Throne of Babylon
by The Emerald Blight
Summary: All my life, people have placed their expectations upon me. They would have me believe I failed. Cowards. What right do these mongrels have to pass judgement upon me. The only right these people have. The only right I allow them. Is to stand in awe and be humbled if and when I deign to stand as their salvation. Gaze upon my wonders. For I sit upon the Throne of Babylon.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: The following story is a fan-made creation. I do not own Harry Potter, Type Moon or Highschool DxD. Please support the original material._

"Defying me to the very end, huh?" Speech.

"_Enuma Elish!_" Magic/Noble Phantasm Attack. Flashback Speech. Phone/Magic/Etc Speech.

"█▄██▄▄█▄▄█▄" Inarticulate/Berserker Roar/s.

"**Bow before your Death!**" Monster-type Speech.

"_**Notice me!**_" speech that carries particular emphasis or weight to it.

XxxXxxXxxXxxX

'_I WILL proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was the man to whom all things were known; this was the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went on a long journey, was weary, worn-out with labour, returning he rested, he engraved on a stone the whole story.' - The Epic of Gilgamesh_

XxxX

They had left him. Deep within the Forest of Dean, far from the lights of civilisation and the terror inspired by the rampant Dark Lord Voldemort; they had left him to go back home.

Ron had long been complaining about the tiring nature of it all; camping out in the woods. Rationing food and scavenging when they had the opportunity. Jumping at every shadow and sleeping with one eye open out of fear of discovery of Riddle's Death Eaters or the Snatchers that worked for the monster.

The realist part of Harry had figured that it had always been a matter of time before his flaky friend gave up and went back to his family in favor of his warm bed and the massive meals made by his overbearing mother. When the ginger had thrown his final tantrum and left, Harry hadn't been all that concerned.

It was Hermione's departure that had caught him off balance. His truest friend if he had to put a label to it. She had always maintained her presence as a stalwart supporter and faithful friend; only doubting him in few occasions. She had always helped him weather Ron's whining and kept their oafish friend onside.

But now, she was gone.

Seven years of friendship and she finally took Ron's side. They had both apparated away, leaving him, the tent, even the Horcrux they had been able to steal from Umbridge at the Ministry of Magic.

It, hurt. The only two people he felt he could unconditionally call his best friends in his short seventeen years of living. All the adventures, the hardships, dangers and fear they had endured over the years and now, right at the end, with this final dangerous adventure, they had thrown in the towel and left him to bear it all alone.

The 'Chosen One' hissed out a 'tsk' of anger from between clenched teeth as he looked down to the golden object that he was absently twisting in his hands.

It was not the Slytherin Locket that served as one of Riddle's Horcruxes. No that revolting thing was hanging from a candle-holder on the dining table on the far side of the expansive tent.

No the treasure that was enjoying the delicate, almost intimate caress of his fingertips. It was beautiful to look at. Made from interconnecting blocks and pieces of solid gold, the 'handle' if it could be called as such was assembled from a number of constantly shifting and re-aligning blocks of differing size and shape; Almost like tetris blocks. It was almost the size of a dagger and if that line of thought followed then it had a rectangular shaped 'blade' with a number of notches, circular cut outs and holes altering its overall shape. Harry had examined every inch of this item over the years he had possessed it, ran his fingers across every edge, corner and beautifully carved recess it had in every configuration the ever shifting handled had and at all times he could not dissuade the notion that he was beholding some form of key.

He had come to own this 'key' for coming on two years now. Ever since he had infiltrated the Department of Mysteries in a foolish and short sighted attempt to 'rescue' his Godfather Sirius Black from danger. Danger that he had never originally been in until Harry himself had walked right into the trap set by Riddle and Lucius Malfoy that had left Sirius to leave the safety of Grimmauld Place to save his sorry life.

He had gotten separated from the others after the Prophecy Orbs had blown up in a spectacular distraction and ran into a room filled with odd looking trinkets and nick-knacks; some covered in dust, some glowing with any number of obscure, forbidden or forgotten magical enchantment. And at the far end of the room, nestled atop a soft cushion of velvet red had been this golden treasure.

It had glowed to his eyes, practically humming a soft bell-like tone that had forced him to approach and pick it up before he had even realised what he had even been doing.

When everything had been seen to its conclusion and his friends had returned to Hogwarts to recover from their own cuts, scrapes and injuries Harry had maintained his silence on the new addition to his trunk. He told no-one of what he had stolen from The Department of Mysteries; not Ron, Hermione. Not even Dumbledore when the Headmaster had taken him into his confidence to uncover the truth to Riddle's apparent immortality.

It was again an unconscious action on Harry's part. He had felt on several occasions that he wanted to tell Dumbledore, his friends, even Professor Moody at one point. But when each moment presented itself; Harry had kept his mouth shut when he felt the sudden and powerful protectiveness over the secret. Something he would almost say was akin to the fantasy image of a Dragon protecting its treasure hoard.

And now, with Hermione and Ron both abandoning him to see the Dark Lord finished alone, a part of him felt nothing but relief. And he hated himself for it.

A near silent click came out from the object in his hands as the latest configuration of the handle settled into place. Harry returned his gaze to it and turned from the past as his jaw un-clenched. A gentle push at a squat, L-shaped block with his fingertip and nudge toward the base followed by a twist and push of a small rectangular block to the left of its new position and the whole configuration started to re-align itself anew.

Harry had figured out quite a bit with the ever shifting puzzling treasure. It was almost like playing with a rubix cube that had only a single color and twelve sides rather than just six. He had no explanation for why he felt it, but he had come to feel as if he was eleven sides in with one left to go.

There was something about it, watching the gold as it shifted and clicked in its intricate patterns and formations that was calming to him. It had helped during his late nights on watch while the other two slept and kept his mind level even in spite of the weight of the Horcrux.

In fact he could already feel his concerns at his friends having abandoned him slipping away; moving to the back of his mind.

He let the stress wash away and be drowned out by the clicking of it shifting blocks. Pushing and shifting individual sections like puzzle pieces Harry let his mind go blank, allowing himself to be lost in the mindless autonomy of push, shift, twist, pull, push, push, shift, twist, twist twist…

the world could wait, Voldemort and his abominable Horcruxes could wait. Let him have this. Let him enjoy at least one moment of blissful peace.

**Click**

Harry's finger met resistance when he went to push down on another block. Blinking in confusion and surprise, the teenager focused his eyes from their previous vacant expression and looked down to the 'keyblade' in his hands. The handle was no longer shifting and pattern of glowing, red lines started to stretch out from the guard twisting and turning in sharp 90° angles. Like the beginnings of a labyrinthian maze.

It was so, beautiful. It felt like the first time he had held his Holly and Phoenix core Want at Ollivanders. No, his wand paled in comparison to this. His whole body tingled and a warmth filled him from where his hands held the object. The key.

"_The Key of the King's Law, Bab-ilu._"

It came out as an almost reverent whisper. The words unbidden and strange. Where had they come from? Why had he even said them? And how did he seem to know with absolute certainty that it was the name of the treasure in his hands.

Such questions were immediately put to an end when the key reacted to his words. The red labyrinthian pattern erupted out from the key stretching out into the air around it and cuneiform lettering formed in the air around him, humming with power and pulsing with crimson light as if it possessed a life of its own.

Harry's grip tightened on the handle of Bab-ilu and rose to his feet, strength filling every fibre of his being as the enormous crimson pattern reversed its course and rapidly receded back to its origin point and the cuneiform lettering faded away.

In its place, a glorious golden light spread out from the keyblade. Like in a pool of water, the golden light rippled out a mere foot from Harry's front.

And from it, fell a deep blue colored crystal half the size of his fist.

Instinctively Harry reached out with a free hand to catch the crystal before it fell more than a foot, easily managing the feat thanks to years of tracking and catching the Golden Snitch.

The moment he did, everything changed.

The crystal glowed and an almost bell-like tone pulsed out from it and when a light beamed out from it to focus and form the image of a blond haired, crimson eyed man he dropped it.

"_So, my greatest Treasure has finally been reached._"

The image of the man the crystal had formed stood at Harry's own height, a good 5'9 and had swept back golden hair and piercing red eyes that actually had Harry feeling almost naked before the man. Clad in resplendent golden armor with rich red cloth hanging from his waist. Arms folded across his chest with a refined expression that not even Lucius Malfoy could even dream of pulling off on his best day.

"_Greetings to you, my heir. I am your Forebear, the first and greatest of Kings; Gilgamesh of Uruk._" The image spoke, drawing Harry's full attention. "_You, who have come to possess to key to my greatest Treasure and unlocked its secrets. Be pleased with yourself. You have touched power and wealth that even the gods eye with envy._"

Harry rolled his eyes. This guy, this Gilgamesh sure was full of himself.

"_I once ruled the greatest of the Sumarian city-states; Uruk. By my reckoning it has been thousands of years since my once glorious rule. By my own admission I was, a difficult ruler._" Gilgamesh continued. "_While harsh I ruled with fairness and justly. None under my rule suffered unfairly and all enjoyed the safety under my aegis. But, even one such as I must inevitably answer to powers beyond even my reach. In the twilight of my years I feared my death. __Not for my own sake, but for that of my kingdom. For the vast treasures in my possession. What would happen to them when I was gone? My wonderful Babylon, what would become of it?_"

The image of the ancient king unfolded his arms and reached out to hold his hand out to Harry. "_My kin were not worthy of such privilege. They could not comprehend the value of such an honor. So I locked away my Treasures and arranged so that only my heir, someone truly worthy could possibly take possession of and unlock the secrets of the Key of my Law; Bab-ilu._"

Harry looked down to the now silent key in his hand; no longer glowing or resonating any power.

"_Not everyone is capable of so much as even holding Bab-ilu. I myself witnessed my own children incapable of so much as even touching it let alone holding it._" Gilgamesh smirked as if amused by the very memory. "_Only someone truly worthy, someone like me could ever come to hold this wondrous key. And only one who could truly understand the value of patience would ever be able to solve its ever changing form. And now, it has been done. I am sure that wherever my spirit currently resides that I would find relief in this knowledge. Well done young Prince. Know that you are my Heir. Hold your head high to see that you stand above all others upon this earth. The Treasures of this world are now yours by right and the great vault of my Treasures have now been open to you. Know its name Prince of Heroes and call it out with pride._"

The image flickered once and then faded as the light streaming out from the crystal projecting it ceased its glowing, leaving Harry to once more stand alone in the magically expanded tent.

The crystal no longer glowed, Bab-ilu no longer hummed with power. Instead, he felt all that power filling him to the brim. It had been growing steady with every word Gilgamesh had said to the point where he had never felt stronger in his entire life.

Know its name and call it out with pride? And what did he mean by Prince of Heroes? Did that make Gilgamesh the King of Heroes? Kind of arrogant really. But how could he call out this name? He didn't know-

"_Gate of..._"

"_**Babylon.**_"

XxxXxxXxxXxxX

**A/N:**

**Alrighty then. just a heads up this story Throne of Babylon is a 'free time' story. Meaning it is what we will be working on in between the others already in development. progress will be slow mainly due to the background development for the story is still technically ongoing where our others are fairly fleshed out across the board.**

**There is a schedule for when and how often we will be working on our various stories which are as follows:**

**Week 1: ****Risen in Light, Fallen to Shadow.**

**Week 2:****Never Alone.**

**Week 3:****Legacy of Darkness, Bane of Ligh****t.**

**Week 4: Zero Chakra Plan.**

**repeat.**

**Throne of Babylon will fit in where ever there is time.**

**This chapter is admittedly quite short. this is due to it being a prologue to set up the world and situation you as the reader is stepping foot in.**

**Remember to read and REVIEW! Progress while not completely dependent upon high reviews is influenced by it.**


	2. The Show Must Go On

_Disclaimer: The following story is a fan-made creation. I do not own Harry Potter, Type Moon or Highschool DxD. Please support the original material._

"Defying me to the very end, huh?" Speech.

"_Enuma Elish!_" Magic/Noble Phantasm Attack. Flashback Speech. Phone/Magic/Etc Speech.

"█▄██▄▄█▄▄█▄" Inarticulate/Bezerker Roar/s.

"**Bow before your Death!**" Monster-type Speech.

"_**Notice me!**_" speech that carries particular emphasis or weight to it.

XxxXxxXxxXxxX

'_When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the glorious sun endowed him with beauty, Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage, the great gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing all others, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two thirds they made him god and one third man.' - The Epic of Gilgamesh_

XxxX

_Previously:_

_Know its name and call it out with pride? And what did he mean by Prince of Heroes? Did that make Gilgamesh the King of Heroes? Kind of arrogant really. But how could he call out this name? He didn't know-_

"_Gate of..."_

"_**Babylon.**"_

XxxX

"Come on Mione couldn't this wait a bit longer? Just another week, Mom was going to make roast for dinner tonight."

Hermione Granger; proclaimed 'know-it-all' of Hogwarts and 'brightest Witch of her age' rolled her eyes for the upteenth time at the whining of Ron Weasley. The tall ginger had not stopped trying to convince her to go back to the cottage where the rest of the Weasley family had taken shelter since the Burrow had burned down.

It was nearly a month ago when Ron had made to abandon Harry and the mission Headmaster Dumbledore had given him to stop Voldemort by destroying the Horcrux's that made him immortal. Hermione would have glared at the ultimately cowardly boy and taken to assuring her friend Harry that she would stay with him, but she couldn't ignore the truth. She was tired. She had erased her own parents memory of their daughter and forced them to move to Australia just to keep them safe from Voldemort's regime. For months now she had run across the countryside with her two best friends searching for every rumor and trace of the Dark Lord's soul containers, holed up in a tent sleeping with one eye open, enduring food rations and fleeing the moment any sign of Snatchers or Death Eaters.

She just wanted the change to rest without having to keep one eye open out of fear that they would be discovered. And so, to her shame; she had left.

She had left her best friend of seven years to go with a boy whose idea of loyalty was not stealing food from their plate.

Together the pair had travelled to Bill and Fleur's home Shell Cottage and stayed there with the newlyweds. While both had had clearly disapproved of the pair for abandoning Harry as they had, only Fleur had been vocal about it. Bill had played the family card and been supportive of his brother despite whatever he personally may or may not have felt about it.

While Ron had been quite content to spend time mooching off of his elder brother and was, even now, wanting to return back to Shell Cottage, Hermione to her own personal shame had spent a week with Bill and his wife before she had finally come to regret her departure from Harry's side. A week of sleeping in a comfortable bed, eating hot, full meals, resting without constantly looking over her shoulder. And after that week when she started to feel bad for effectively abandoning Harry, she still did not go back to him.

She didn't return to the Forest of Dean to the campsite to try and find where Harry had moved to; believing and hoping that he would have relocated for security the moment she and Ron had left. She didn't even try to further research methods of destroying The Dark Lords Horcrux's or even any possibilities of where any others may be located and what they could possibly be. She didn't do any of that. Instead she relaxed as if the war was a distant memory and she was on a holiday of all things.

And when she finally had been able to stomach her actions or lack thereof any longer she wasted a further week attempting to convince Ron to come back with her. The youngest Weasley had waved it off for more than a few days under the claim that Harry would be fine without them and was most likely relaxing himself back in the tent like they were at the cottage. It was quite insulting to her friend Harry that Ron seemed to operate under the belief that their friend was seemingly completely incapable of continuing without them. A detail that had her rage at him in the end when she found him planning to extend his little holiday.

In the end Ron had caved into the combined front of Hermione, Fluer and a reluctant Bill whom had been forced to stand against his brother when Fluer had made a point to move the elder Weasley's pillow from their marital bed to the sofa in the living room.

After a month Hermione was all but certain that Harry had relocated beyond the Forest of Dean. Even as she and Ron had apparated into the forest a good five minute walk from the campsite they had last seen their friend, she believed that Harry had to have known it prudent. If she and Ron had been captured they would have been tortured for the location of the 'Chosen One' and despite her own convictions the chance still existed that the campsite location would be given up.

Ron was still whining behind her when Hermione's eyes widened and fearful tears threatened to spill from her eyes when she saw the campsite. And the fact that the tent and everything was still there.

Now in a normal situation this would not be something to be afraid of. The tent was not on fire or looking in any way damaged from spellfire. There were no signs of struggle or impact marks of wand work surrounding it.

No it was the atmosphere. And the fact that the protection wards and concealment spells that she and Harry had set in place to hide the campsite from Death Eaters were completely down. Either as a result of breach or if they had failed due to lack of maintenance she could not tell. But with the protective wards down Hermione and Ron had been able to walk right up and into the campsite without any difficulty; something that Ron himself would most certainly not have taken any note of, but Hermione understood as wrong. As a creator of the warding Hermione had approached where she knew the campsite to be with the preparedness to search magically for the ward line and then open it so to speak. She had not been expecting to just walk right in.

and without the magic of the wards, it was even easier to feel the staleness of the air around her. Not a normal sensation. Nothing like walking into a room that had been shut off from fresh air for months, but yet, it was. Magically that is. With the wards down and their magic no longer present it was clearer than daylight for Hermione to sense the muted stillness of the magic in the air. Cold and empty; as if nothing had been to this place in weeks.

Leaving Ron behind, Hermione broke into a run, filled with fear and her hands white as she clenched her fists and wand tight. Sweeping the tent flap to the side, the young woman charged into the tent, wand raised with several spells already at her lips as her eyes darted about; searching for any sign of life be it Harry or intruder.

There was nothing.

By the time the ginger haired Weasley had finally reached the tent, whatever sense of attention he was capable advising he have his own wand drawn having finally kicked in, Hermione had already run through a wide array of revealing, tracking and location spells to get a lock on any and all signs of sentient life within the campsite and area beyond. She looked for wizards, magical creatures, she even looked for lingering magic that was indicative of a transfiguration in the event Harry was nearby as a fallen branch of all things.

Nothing.

Hermione was on the verge of panic, clinging only to the hope that Harry had simply stepped out, gone for a couple of days to resupply and that the magical staleness she felt was a simple ghost of imagined fear clinging to her. She held on to that hope; maybe Harry had left to try and find a way to destroy the Locket Horcrux and the camp had been left like this as a trap for the Death Eaters?

"Hey Hermione, found the Locket. Do you want to hold it or should I for now?"

Reality came crashing down.

The bookworm of the group turned slowly to look at Ron Weasley; whom as was the norm was completely ignorant of the mood of the room and severity of the situation and significance of the camp being abandoned, no harry yet the Locket still here.

Seeing the tears start to fall from her eyes, Ron raised an eyebrow in confusion as he pocketed the Horcrux, figuring if she wasn't holding her hand out for it that it meant he should carry it for now. "You alright there Mione? Did Harry use one of your books as a food tray or something while we were gone?"

Hermione didn't roll her eyes or glare at Ron for his question, a small part of her considering that it had occurred to him- mainly because he himself had done it before. She didn't even snap at him for his thickheadedness at misreading the situation as usual. Instead she just cried.

"Harry's gone."

XxxX

It didn't take long for Hermione to move everything to Grimmauld Place, despite Ron's urging for them instead to return to Shell Cottage; a choice she believed was more focused on Ron's understanding that Grimmauld Place did not have a fully stocked pantry than anything else.

Together the pair had gathered everything left behind in the campsite, including not only all the books and research they had all gathered in the effort to track down and destroy the You-Know-Who's Horcrux's, but, to Hermione's horror; Harry's wand as well. With all of this, research, Horcrux, wand and the tent collected the pair returned to Grimmauld Place to regroup and assess the situation.

Well, more so Hermione did. Ron appeared concerned, but it wasn't that hard to see it was just a facade. While he wasn't apathetic toward the situation, Hermione had been able to surmise that the young Weasley had long since reached his own conclusion about Harry's absence and since determined it to be business as usual. As if he expected Harry to just show up at any point.

Not that he wanted him to any time soon if the side long glances he kept sending her were any indication. Hermione had to resist the urge to shiver when she caught a glimpse of the leering look in his eyes when he looked at her every now and again.

It, disturbed her to consider that Ron was considering their friends mysterious absence as an opportunity to cosy up to her.

Thankfully Ron's chances were limited as upon their arrival to Grimmauld Place and explaining their presence to a muttering Kreacher, Hermione had wasted no time in sending out missives to the scattered Order members, calling them to Grimmauld Place.

She did not expect any Order members at Hogwarts like Professor McGonagall to be able to attend given that since Dumbledore's death and Snape being placed as Headmaster it was all but a Death Eater owned and operated school now.

While they waited for the Order to arrive, if they did at all of course, Hermione busied herself with organising her notes and research for the meeting ahead while Ron dug up a chess set from the room he and Harry had stayed in at one time to play against himself. Hermione could only roll her eyes at it; that instead of spending the time productively the boy would chose to play a game. It shouldn't surprise her at this point really.

It was after three hours, long since Hermione had set up everything for the meeting and had since taken to revising her own dark magic detection spells, that the first members of the Order began to arrive.

Their arrival was staggered, seemingly random and small enough to avoid any lingering attention from the streets as Kingsley Shacklebolt entered Grimmauld Place first followed by Oliver Wood, then Fred and later George Weasley.

Within the hour the dining room was filled with the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix arriving. Molly Weasley had long since taken over the kitchen and begun cooking very near the moment she had arrived with Arthur and the rest of the Weasley clan. The Weasley Matriarch had been able to reunite with her youngest son and Hermione at one point in time during the duo's time at Shell Cottage so the reunion at Grimmauld had been not as smothering with Molly only half smothering her and Ron with the patented 'Molly Weasley Hug' for a relatively brief time before she moved to the kitchens.

It had been a surprise when Hermione had seen a man whom she had believed to be Headmaster Dumbledore enter the dining room, the gasp leaving her lips involuntarily as she saw the elderly man with the same long white and grey beard walk in.

While ill-prickly at the mistaken identity he had introduced himself as Aberforth Dumbledore; owner of the Hogs Head at Hogsmeade and younger brother to the late Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Professor Lupin and Tonks had arrived; their newborn son in hiding with Tonks' mother.

Soon enough the Dining Room was bustling with the activity of eating the modest yet filling meal Molly had prepared for everyone; everyone, even Hermione, taking the time to enjoy the simple moment of peace against the ongoing war against The Dark Lord.

When the meal was over, plates cleared away and Ron ceasing his complaining about his still present hunger, Hermione called the meeting to order.

"I know coming here was a risk so thank you all for answering my message." Hermione spoke up, standing to address the gathered wizards and witches. "The reason for this meeting however, outweighs the risk of coming here so I would ask you all to please listen closely."

"Wait, should we be starting the meeting yet?" Tonks spoke up, looking around the room at the people gathered, looking for someone. "Harry's not here yet."

Hermione's throat closed briefly at the reminded uncertainty of her friends location. "I am afraid that is part of the reason for the meeting." the young woman reached down to the large stack of parchment before her and pulled out a wand that had been tucked away beneath it, reaching forward to place it in the center of the table for all to see. "Harry has disappeared."

The silence was deafening as all occupants of the dining room stared in a muted shock at the unmistakable Holly wand that everyone knew belonged to Harry Potter.

"W-what? How?" Lupin stammered, his face pale with fear as he looked from the wand that belonged to all he had left of his friends James, Lily and Sirius. "How could he have disappeared?"

Hermione opened her mouth to speak when a scoff came from the far end of the table.

"Most likely when you and Ronald abandoned him yes?" Fleur spoke up, scathing in her tone as she glowered at both Ron and Hermione; although the glare was lessened when aimed at the resident bookworm due to the knowledge of Hermione's regret.

"Abandoned? What are you talking about?" Fred, or George it was impossible to tell really, spoke up, looking to the young French-woman before turning to a downcast Hermione and reddening Ron.

"We, we had a fight." Hermione confessed. "A month ago there was an argument over our plans with the task Professor Dumbledore gave Harry. We were tired. We just wanted a break to rest so, so we-"

"You left him."

Hermione flinched at the cold, harsh tone to come from the other twin, unable to meet the eye of anyone in the room as she looked down in shame.

"No we didn't!" Ron snapped, slamming his hands down on the table to glare at his older brothers, his ears completely red with indignation. "Harry could have come with us but he chose to stay behind. It was his choice! He could have come with us to Shell Cottage to take a breather but as usual The Chosen One has to be the tragic hero, not caring one bit for how the rest of us feel!"

There was another brief moment of silence to meet Ron's outburst that was only broken by another angry scoff from Fluer as she disregarded the 'defence' of the youngest Weasley. It looked as if more of the gathered members of the Order were prepared to ask further questions and berate the two for their actions; especially Lupin who looked like he was moments from a moonless shifting as he glowered at Ron. Fortunately however, the upcoming eruption was mitigated when Arthur raised his wand and let out a sharp crack of noise.

"Everyone calm down. While what Ron and Hermione did is not something any of us could understand and in many cases easily forgive, the fact remains that what is done is done." The man spoke up. "What Hermione and Ron did by leaving Harry cannot be undone and Harry's disappearance could very well have nothing to do with it, so everyone needs to calm down and let Hermione continue."

Arthur's intervention seemed to work as the tension in the room eased up a bit and even Lupin look in a deep shuddering breath to calm himself down before nodding in silent agreement.

At the man's supportive nod Hermione swallowed her nerves and continued.

"We don't know what happened to him. When he came back to the campsite, the protection wards were down and Harry was gone. There were no signs of spell damage or any sort of struggle to hint that maybe he had been captured. Nothing was missing to even suggest that Harry had moved on and simply abandoned the campsite. He was just gone. More worrying is that when Harry left, not only did he leave his wand. But he left this."

The young woman reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a gold Locket, reaching forward to place it next to Harry's wand for everyone to see.

"I take it that this Locket is important?" Arthur asked, still directing the mood of the room for a moment longer to keep things on track. "I don't recognise it, is it important to Harry? Perhaps something that belonged to his parents?"

Lupin shook his head as he leaned forward to examine the golden Locket "No this is not something James ever owned nor Lily I would think. Given the 'S' on the Locket I would assume a former Hogwarts Slytherin once owned this?"

Hermione shivered as she felt the push of the Horcux against her mind, taunting her with thoughts of no-one trusting her and urging her not to trust them in kind. To keep the secret.

"No. this is the Locket of Salazar Slytherin." Hermione revealed, ignoring the whispers of the Locket. "But more importantly, it is but one of You-Know-Who's Horcruxes."

At the mere mention of the word Bill shot out of his seat and stumbled back, tripping over his own feet as he went as pale as death and let out a shout of shock.

"What!?" He exclaimed, frantically climbing back to his feet and whipping his wand out to aim it squarely at the, for all appearances, innocent looking piece of jewellery. "A Horcrux? Tell me your joking!"

Besides Bill, Fluer also pulled out her wand and backed away from the Locket, trusting her husbands reaction, as did Shacklebolt, Arthur and the twins, all trusting in the Gringotts Curse-breaker's apparent understanding of the term 'Horcrux.'

"I'm afraid so. You know what it is?" Hermione confirmed, admittedly surprised that someone, anyone had been able to recognise what a Horcrux was.

Bill nodded shakily, wand still aimed at the Locket as he circled the table, carefully reaching each of the confused Order members and gently pulling them back from the table. "I studied them during my apprenticeship at Gringotts. Even come across one in Egypt a few years back. Monstrous things."

"What is it William?" Arthur asked, allowing his son to pull his chair with him still on it away from the table. "A Dark artefact I'm assuming?"

"A Horcux is the most vile, disgusting and dangerous of all dark magics ever created." Bill explained, glancing over to Hermione who had simply nodded to him, passing over the reigns to him for now. "if the use of even one of the Unforgivables earns you a one way trip to Azkaban, then the creation of one of these Horrors should earn you a trip through the Veil of Death."

Lupin flinched at this, reminded of the ultimate fate of the last of his best friends only a couple of years previous.

"A Horcrux is, in essence a container that holds a fragment of a wizard or witch's very soul." Bill explained, flicking his wand around after he had cleared everyone from the table, erecting specific and obscure wards to contain the influence of the Locket, something he noticed seemed to have an immediate effect when Hermione's shoulders sagged as if a great weight had lifted off of her.

"While the details of its creation are fortunately all but completely hidden from the world at large, it is known that the vague details involved include a ritualistic murder. That murder, committed for a very specific reason, fractures the soul of the killer. It is then torn free of the whole and placed into an object. So long as the Horcrux exists, it is impossible to truly destroy the wizard or witch in question."

Hearing this, there was not calm face left in the room. Tonks had to flee the room to vomit in the kitchen sink and Oliver Wood himself looked like he was close to the same reaction.

"And if this truly belongs to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, then it explains how he was able to survive death that night in Godric's Hollow." Bill surmised. "I take it you have been unable to discover how to destroy it Hermione?"

The woman nodded in agreement, a small measure of shame filling her at the failure. "It was what Harry and I were working on while we tried to track down the others."

Bill actually dropped his wand at this. "O-Others?"

Hermione nodded, understanding the horrified disbelief in the Curse-Breaker. "Professor Dumbledore believed that You-Know-Who intended to create six in total for a seven part soul."

Bill shook in horror as he picked up his wand and eyed the silent Horcux in revulsion, looking at the Dark Lord part of it as if the man himself had somehow become even more of a monster than previously believed. "S-six Horcruxes. t-that's beyond insane. The creation of just one wreaks havoc on the mind and body of the owner. I was part of a team a few years back to deal with a crypt in Hungary where we found a Horcrux belonging to the Countess Elizabeth Bathory."

Hermione's eyes widened, recognising the name from her studies before Hogwarts in history.

"You recognise the name?" Bill asked, seeing her reaction.

Hermione nodded. "Elizabeth Bathory was, well I believed until now, a muggle noblewoman who lived in the late sixteenth century. Infamous for the murder of well over six hundred young women and known to have bathed in their blood under the belief that it would keep her beautiful."

Tonks had since come back to the room and went green as she clutched her mouth, heaving again at the information.

"That's accurate. While her heritage is largely unknown even to the Goblins, it is known that she was magical and early in her life she created one of these, things." Bill spat at the Locket. "The creation of just one reportedly left her incredibly unstable and physically disfigured. The crimes she committed that had her arrested and ultimately executed by the muggles was her attempts at a blood ritual to reverse the physical effects of creating a Horcrux. Of the team that I was assigned to that collected and ultimately destroyed the Horcrux, twelve of us began the assignment. Three including myself lived to see its end."

"And He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named made six? Well, we're right fucked aren't we?" Aberforth spoke up for the first time.

The sheer horror at what they were facing was so great that not even Molly could muster up the will to scold the elder for his language.

"Not six, well anymore that is." Hermione corrected. "Harry was able to destroy one in our second year; the Diary that possessed Ginny to open the Chamber of Secrets. And last year Professor Dumbledore was able to locate and destroy another, a ring that once belonged to the Gaunts, You-Know-Who's family. Before he died, the Professor did believe that You-Know-Who's snake Nagini to be a Horcrux itself, considering the Dark Lord's ability to possess its body. So with that and the Locket there are two more unaccounted for."

"Why didn't the three of you tell anyone?" Bill asked. "I'm a Curse-breaker, Remus is well travelled and knows his dark objects and before the Ministry fell Tonks and Shacklebolt had connection into the Department of Mysteries."

Lupin nodded in thanks for the acknowledgement as did the two present Aurors. It was a valid question to consider, why had Harry, Hermione and Ron kept such a thing secret when there were valid reasons to reveal the knowledge to people who could possibly know more on the subject or even have access to knowledge that would let them find out more.

"Wait, let me guess." Aberforth spoke up, a sneer on his face as he shook his head. "My dear older brother, Mr. All-Knowing-Never-Telling Albus Dumbledore told you to keep it a secret."

Hermione nodded. "Harry wanted to keep it between us as Professor Dumbledore wished. But with Harry missing, its not something that myself or Ron can keep any longer."

Off to the side Ron grumbled at the, what he considered, insult to his capabilities that Hermione believed that without Harry they were useless.

"I would really like for us to try and find Harry." Hermione confessed, hanging her head down sadly. "I really would. But we can't afford to stop the search for You-Know-Who's Horcruxes. So long as they exist he cannot be stopped."

Bill let out a sigh, looking around the room to all those who were personally close with the missing Chosen One. "As much as I would like to disagree. I can't. Finding and destroying these Horcruxes is more important than finding Harry. We can have hope, we can look for him, but the first priority _must _be finding the Dark Lord's soul fragments."

There was a bit of tension in the room as one by one the Order members were forced to admit the same conclusion. Harry was important; both to each of them personally and to the world at large as the one who was prophesied to ultimately defeat the Dark Lord. But in the end not even Harry would be able to stop someone who was literally incapable of dying.

"Alright then. Assuming we are able to find these last remaining Horcruxes and isolate this Snake of His, and I am assuming that you Hermione have some theories as to what we should be looking at as possibilities for a Horcux?" Lupin spoke up, looking to the woman in question who nodded in reply. "How exactly can we expect to be able to destroy something like that?"

Bill nodded in understanding. It was a fair concern considering that the single Horcrux of Elizabeth Bathory he had dealt with had been able to possess three of his team; killing a further six before they had been able to successfully destroy it.

"There is a Ritual that the Goblin of Gringotts did develop for the task but we learned that the risks are incredible as it has a habit of empowering the Horcrux to a level that it can defend itself which is how I lost so many of my team in Hungary. Essentially the key to destroy a Horcrux is to render it destroyed beyond any hope of magical repair, effectively forcing the contained soul to leak out like water from a leaky bucket. Additionally it is theorised that the Killing Curse would prove effective as in a spiritual sense the Horcrux is a living thing. Dementor's might be able to pull the soul out of a Horcrux but its never been tested and all known Dementor's are currently loyal to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. So venom's or toxins like that of a Nundu or Basilisk would be viable as well as cursed fire such as Fiendfyre that is known to destroy magic."

Hermione nodded in agreement before speaking up to give her two Knuts. "Basilisk Venom will work as that's what Harry and Professor Dumbledore used to destroy the Diary and Ring. We just don't have any which is why we've been unable to do anything about the Locket."

Bill nodded his head in understanding, twirling his wand in his hand in thought as he looked to the locket before turning back to Hermione. "I assume that all that parchment is your research into the Horcruxes?"

Hermione nodded.

"Well then I think it best that we look over what you've been able to find out, see if we can't narrow down or outright find those last two Horcruxes. Shacklebolt, Tonks; if you could see if you can't figure out a way to get us access to Nagini? The other's we need Nundu Venom, Basilisk Venom or Fiendfyre. I know the incantation for Fiendfyre but will need to be maintaining the containment wards in case of any final defences placed upon the Horcrux so I can't do it."

Everyone nodded in understanding, feeling a swell of resolve and determination as for the first time since the Dark Lords return three years ago; they felt hope.

XxxXxxXxxXxxX

**A/N**

**Alright then. So no Harry in this chapter. We really wanted to do something from the other side of things while he's off doing...Harry things. To show the fallout of his absence after unlocking Bab-ilu**.

**For the details of this chapter we figured that without Harry there Hermione wouldn't be so determined to keep the secret of the Horcrux from the others they KNOW are on their side. Ron is just an idiot and would be completely incapable of convincing Hermione not to go ahead with her plan.**

**As for Ron. Well, we hate him. He is the worst example of humanity, completely insensitive, jealous with both an inferiority and superiority complex and we really could not help but write him the way we have by pointing out his flaws and bullshit.**

**Sorry if you don't want Ron bashed, but :D it happened.**

**This chapter was intended to at first be just the first half of a longer chapter but we cut it in two due to time constraints for writing and posting as we wanted to get something out for Throne of Babylon. The second half of this chapter will conclude the 'Harry Potter arc' as it were and move on to the next part of the story.**

**Again as is the usual, we are unable to predict when the next update for this story will be released due to the other pies we have in the oven so to speak. But it will come out eventually.**

** ! love and...i dunno...read again?**


	3. Boy Who Lives

_Disclaimer: The following story is a fan-made creation. I do not own Harry Potter, Type Moon or Highschool DxD. Please support the original material._

"Defying me to the very end, huh?" Speech.

"_Enuma Elish!_" Magic/Noble Phantasm Attack. Flashback Speech. Phone/Magic/Etc Speech.

"█▄██▄▄█▄▄█▄" Inarticulate/Bezerker Roar/s.

"**Bow before your Death!**" Monster-type Speech.

"_**Notice me!**_" speech that carries particular emphasis or weight to it.

XxxXxxXxxXxxX

_n Uruk he built walls, a great rampart, and the temple of blessed Eanna for the god of the firmament Anu, and for Ishtar the goddess of love. Look at it still today: the outer wall where the cornice runs, it shines with the brilliance of copper; and the inner wall, it has no equal. Touch the threshold, it is ancient. Approach Eanna the dwelling of Ishtar, our lady of love and war, the like of which no latter-day king, no man alive can equal. Climb upon the wall of Uruk; walk along it, I say; regard the foundation terrace and examine the. masonry: is it not burnt brick and good? The seven sages laid the foundations. - The Epic of Gilgamesh._

_XxxX_

_Previously:_

"_Well then I think it best that we look over what you've been able to find out, see if we can't narrow down or outright find those last two Horcruxes. Shacklebolt, Tonks; if you could see if you can't figure out a way to get us access to Nagini? The other's we need Nundu Venom, Basilisk Venom or Fiendfyre. I know the incantation for Fiendfyre but will need to be maintaining the containment wards in case of any final defences placed upon the Horcrux so I can't do it."_

_Everyone nodded in understanding, feeling a swell of resolve and determination as for the first time since the Dark Lords return three years ago; they felt hope._

XxxXxxXxxX

Hermione nervously looked behind her as the doors to Gringotts bank closed shut with a dull thud. Hands wringing together in unease she looked over to the nondescript man walking beside her. Dull brown hair and brown eyes; Bill Weasley, disguised under Polyjuice just like her, caught her glance and replied with a reassuring wink.

"Relax, the potion is still good for around forty five minutes." The man whispered to the shorter blond haired blue eyed woman as the pair walked further into the bank. "I'm still employed here as well so there's nothing to worry about from the Goblins either."

The anxious witch nodded shortly, eyes still darting around the bank lobby. So much time on the run, discounting the mini-vacation at Shell Cottage, and fleeing either Death Eaters or their supporters had her jumpy at seeing so many other wizards and witches in one place.

There were a couple she recognised as 'Snatchers'; mercenaries employed by the Voldemort run Ministry with the mandate to hunt down and capture any 'malcontent' be it a wanted criminal like Harry or someone like her; being those unfortunate enough to be Muggleborn.

Bill directed her away from the lineup of bank patrons, each waiting service from the Goblin Tellers. There was a closed door; off limits to the public, that Bill was leading her to. A short conversation with one of the Goblin Warrior-Guards posted there and the door was opened to allow the pair through. One last fleeting glance behind her, still worried about being followed or spotted by the followers of the Dark Lord. There was no need for concern. Apart from a young man perhaps a couple of years older than her with swept back darkened silver hair wearing an expensive set of black robes that had looked over to her absently before stepping forward to speak with a Bank Teller, none took any notice of her.

XxxX

Five minutes later Hermione found herself seated in a comfortable office, a cup of tea steaming before her and Bill seated beside her, blowing on his own drink before taking a sip. Seated opposite behind the large richly vanished and carved desk sat the Goblin that Bill had claimed would be able to help them at the Bank.

Ragnok. A colleague of Bills who assisted in the Weasley's ventures as a Curse Breaker for the Bank. Ragnok was one of the three members of Bill's team to survive the encounter with the Horcrux of Elizabeth Bathory. The assignment had left Ragnok crippled when one of his legs had been hit with a rotting curse, forcing Bill to sever the limb to prevent the curse eating away at the rest of his body. In the years following, Ragnok had been put on Desk Duty with the job of research and intelligence. It was Ragnok's job to find out everything there was to know about the target location a Curse Breaker was to be dispatched. So as to make sure that another Bathory incident never happened again.

Gringotts did not tolerate casualties such as that.

Currently Hermione's eye was on a disturbingly life-like bust of a Goblin head perched upon a pedestal to the right of the office. A plaque underneath it had something engraved in a language she could not identify. A name perhaps?

"Not the most pleasant decorative for outsiders." Ragnok spoke up as he finished signing a lengthy sheet of parchment, rolling it up and tucking it away to look over to what had caught the young Witch's eye. "I remember when William first came to visit me after I took this office."

Bill gave a crooked smile. "All I said was that it's not something many wizards or witches would be able to handle."

"Which is why I find that it is my favorite thing to have in this place." The Goblin replied with a toothy smirk.

"It certainly is very life-like." Hermione pointed out diplomatically. The way its eyes found her own was quite unnerving.

"It should be considering that is the head of my predecessor." Ragnok's smirk widened. "His mistake saw to several deaths. Gringotts did not like this and so his contract was, teminated."

Hermione paled. Not a bust, an actual Goblin head.

"I do hope William, that you did not bring this Witch to my office to admire the décor." The Goblin Curse Finder said to the Weasley with a warning growl.

"By the end of this I fear we both will wish that had been the case my friend." Bill replied sadly. "No Hermione Granger and myself are here for something incredibly important. It is the belief of Miss Granger and myself, that there is a Horcrux here within Gringotts."

It was the first time Hermione had ever seen a Goblin turn white.

Ragnok's eyes widened and his clawed hands carved into his desk for a moment before he leaned forward with intense determination. "Explain. Now!"

Bill nodded, his own expression as severe. "Miss Granger here has been involved in a clandestine undertaking alongside her friends; my brother Ron Weasley and The Enemy of the Enemy Harry Potter. They have been searching for his Horcruxes. Thus far three have been found, two of which destroyed."

"Three found!? How many has this madman made?" Ragnok gaped in horror. The very idea of someone, anyone having the nerve to create more than one of those vile constructs inspiring a new kind of fear within the Goblin.

"It is believed to be six in total." Bill reported.

"Six. The Enemy made six." Ragnok repeated in an almost dazed state. "The creation of even a single Horcrux would have warped his mind and soul. Two and the bridge between sanity and insanity would become blurred. Six? I cannot fathom the havoc that had wrought upon that creature."

Bill nodded in understanding. "A Diary belonging to The Enemy was found five years ago and destroyed. Last year a Ring and currently in our possession is a locket. I have bound the locket in a ward to isolate its influence. According to Miss Granger the final three Horcruxes have been identified as the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff, the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw and The Enemies serpent familiar."

"Both Harry and Professor Dumbledore were able to determine that You-Know-Who liked to hide things in places that are important to him." Hermione spoke up. "The original resting place of the Locket was a cave that he had visited as a child and the Ring was hidden in the ancestral home of his family."

"We have already visited the site where The Enemy was raised, an Orphanage in London." Bill continued. "It turns out the Orphanage had been burned down by what the Muggle's called an unending fire. There was no signs of magic to lead to the existence of a Horcrux at the site."

"The first one; the Diary, was originally in the possession of Lucius Malfoy." Hermione once again. "Apparently You-Know-Who entrusted it to him shortly before his first fall back in 1981."

"And you believe he may have entrusted another to one of his slaves?" Ragnok picked up the leading thought. "Not an unreasonable assumption, especially considering that by our laws the Ministry has no authority to inspect or seize the contents of a Gringotts Vault. I assume there are other locations you have considered to be where The Enemy conceals his jars?"

The Weasley Curse Breaker nodded. "Hogwarts is all but certain to have one given The Enemy's connection and fixation upon it. The leading suspicion is that the long lost Diadem is hidden there."

Ragnok nodded in agreement. An item of that renown would have been noticed by the Gringotts staff if it had ever passed through the bank. That no-one had made mention of the Diadem meant that it was not hidden within one of its vaults. By that line of thought. If the Cup of Hufflepuff was in Gringotts. Its discovery would be a simple matter.

"Wait here. I must inform the Hoard-Chief of this and speak with the Vault Managers." Ragnok said as he rose to his feet. "If you are correct and a Horcrux is indeed within our walls it will be dealt with swiftly."

The Goblin left the office in a rush, the shine of his gold prosthetic leg little more than a blur from the speed in which Ragnok hobbled out.

When the door closed in his wake Hermione looked down to her still untouched tea. It was no longer steaming and after reaching out to it she noted that it had gone cold. Leaving it and leaning back in her chair the young witch noted that the Polyjuice effect had since faded away, returning her blond hair back to the soft brown curls she was more familiar with.

"Bill. Why did Ragnok seem so worried that there could be a Horcrux in Gringotts?" She asked thoughtfully. "I understand that they are dangerous and incredibly dark and that Gringotts does destroy them when they are found, but why would he be quick to do something when all we have is guess work and assumption that there is even one here?"

Bill's face scrunched up in distaste, just thinking about Horcruxes was unnerving to him. "Gringotts prides itself on a banking system that protects its clients and their vaults from outside influence and theft. Thief's Downfall was designed for this very thing. A Horcrux within the bank effectively bypasses this; influencing and attacking anyone who falls within its range. To the Goblins this is in turn an attack on their pride as bankers but also an attack on their bottom line."

"This kind of thing, even if it is assumption on our part cannot be ignored safely for if it is real as you and I believe, then it is endangering those under the protection of the Gringotts Bank."

"And a Goblin will not suffer undue risk to those under the protection afforded to a Gringotts client." Came a new voice.

Bill immediately shot to his feet and pounded a fist against his chest, lowering his head in respect to the Goblin that had entered the room.

Dressed in an expensive looking suit with a pair of platinum glasses perched at the tip of his nose, this Goblin stood a head taller than Ragnok who was positioned behind him.

"Hoard-Chief Davwick." Bill greeted.

"Curse Breaker William." The head of Gringotts Bank returned. "I have been informed of what you have brought to Curse Finder Ragnok. As we speak the Vault Managers are conferring to determine if one of your suspected Horcruxes are indeed within my walls. If they determine there is nothing a vault by vault audit will be undertaken to locate any such artefact is present in any other form."

"With permission Hoard-Chief, I would like to petition that the Horcrux of The Enemy not be destroyed."

Davwick raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And for what reason should this be permitted Curse Breaker William?"

Bill rubbed his forehead nervously, a bit put off by the fact that he was addressing the head of the entire bank at this time and not to some one lower in the hierarchy. "A plan has been devised to weaken and deal with The Enemy, but for it to work we require as many of his Horcruxes as we can collect. It is the reason why the one currently in our possession has not been destroyed."

Davwick pondered the request, peering into the red head and then over to an equally tense Hermione. Eventually he released them from his gaze and nodded. "I will concede to your judgement in this Curse Breaker Weasley. Should a Horcrux of The Enemy be located within my walls it will be remanded into your custody."

XxxX

There had been a time when seeing Hogwarts like this had filled her with warmth and made her feel safe. The one place in all of the world where Hermione could feel like she belonged and could rest easy. She had met her best friends here. She had her eyes opened to the world here.

But now, it felt just as cold, just as frightening as the Ministry did now. Just as dark as the Forbidden Forest.

The gathered members of the Order of the Pheonix had assembled in Hogsmeade following their successful venture to Gringotts.

A Horcrux belonging to Voldemort had indeed been found within one of its vaults. The vault of Bellatrix Lestrange had been selected by the Vault Managers as the one containing the fabled Cup of Hufflepuff and both Ragnok and Bill had confirmed it to be a vessel for the Dark Lords soul.

With the possession of two of the remaining four Horcruxes and the third believed to be within Hogwarts itself, everything was set to end this once and for all with the true death of Voldemort.

Currently Bill was carrying both the Locket and the Cup; having heavily warded both items to restrict their corrupting influence.

The plan was ultimately quite simple. But its success hinged upon being able to locate the Diadem within Hogwarts. If they could not find it then the second stage of the plan would not work.

"Hermione, Aberforth has opened the passage to Hogwarts."

The young Witch turned away from the distant castle of Hogwarts to see Tonks standing several feet behind her, the Metamophagus' appearance dulled in order to not stand out in a Death Eater patrolled village. Similarly Hermione had charmed her hair to be cropped short and black with her chocolate brown eyes now hazel and hidden behind a pair of fake muggle glasses.

"Is everyone ready?"

Tonks nodded. "Shack and the others grabbed some things from the Weasley Joke shop to give us a bit of an edge and a couple of Bill's work mates have joined us to set up some wards. Keep the Dementors that joined You-Know-Who out of Hogwarts itself."

Hermione nodded, a bout of nerves building within her. This was it. Harry was still missing, they had been too busy working toward the goal of taking down the Dark Lord to put any real effort in locating him but even then nothing had come from their small effort in that regard.

But this, if what they had come up with today worked then Voldemort could potentially be made vulnerable without Harry.

Returning to The Hogs Head, Hermione followed Tonks down to the cellar where the rest of the Order was waiting. A large portrait of a young woman, Ariana Dumbledore the younger sister of Aberforth and Headmaster Dumbledore from what the rough elderly man had explained, hung open with an equally wide corridor leading off set in the wall behind it.

"Alright then. This is it people." Bill started, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Hermione, you Ron and Lupin do what you can to find the Diadem. Ravenclaw's Ghost; the Grey Lady is rumored to be a descendant of the Ravenclaw line so start there. My team and I," the curse breaker indicated to a group of four other wizards and a stern faced Ragnok, "will construct the ritual circle to destroy the Horcruxes in the Great Hall. Shack, you take everyone else and lockdown the Dormitories and take care of the Death Eaters within the castle. Subdue, kill, force them to retreat, it doesn't matter."

"What about Snape?" Ron pointed out, his expression dark at the thought of the much hated former Potions Master.

"You leave him to me." Aberforth spoke up, the man's expression surprisingly empty.

This seemed to satisfy the youngest Weasley as he nodded in understanding.

"We need to act fast and hit hard." Bill continued. "For this to work we need the Daidem. Without it we cannot complete the mission."

The air was tense, each and every gathered Wizard and Witch readied themselves. It was Hermione however, who lead the charge. She was the first to step into the tunnel and make lead the way to Hogwarts. Everything that had been done. Every sacrifice, every loss. Every mistake. None of it would be for nothing.

XxxX

The Castle was abuzz with activity. It had not taken long at all upon the Order breaking into Hogwarts for things to kick off. Upon exiting the secret passage into a large room occupied by a collection of students from different houses lead by Neville Longbottom whom had revealed to them that they were currently in the Room of Requirement, the Order had split off to attend to their differing tasks. Neville had joined Hermione and her group in tracking down the Grey Lady to locate the Diadem while others like Ginny aided the Order members in locking down the four house dormitories, all in order to keep the students out of the fight regardless of what side said students would be inclined to take.

Fighting had quickly erupted when Shacklebolt and his group had found the roaming Death Eater's posing as Professors. The Carrow twins hadn't lasted very long after their run in with the determined Order.

Neville had been able to convince the Grey Lady; revealed to be Helena Ravenclaw, the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, to help them. The Grey Lady had seen the courage and will Neville had shown over the course of the school year in not only resisting the Death Eater occupation but protecting the younger students regardless of their house at the cost of his own safety. That had lead them back to the now vacated Room of Requirement. The Grey Lady had told them that a young Tom Riddle had hidden the Diadem he had twisted in the room where all lost things are found. Three passes later and the room had revealed itself to be a massive hall several times larger than that of the Great Hall filled with mountains upon mountains of lost and discarded items that had collected together over the course of the schools thousand year long history.

The Diadem had been hidden in that room. Carefully collected and placed in a special warding bag Bill had provided the group with, Hermione and the others returned to the Great Hall to deliver it to the Curse Breaker and his team.

Wands were immediately drawn when Hermione, Ron, Neville and Lupin entered to see Severus Snape standing there watching as Bill and the others set up the ritual circle.

"What the hell is _he_ doing here?" Ron shouted.

Bill stood up from where he was working and placed himself in the path between Ron's wand and Snape, holding a hand out to calm down his younger brother. "Relax Ron. Snape is on our side."

"Our side?! He murdered Professor Dumbledore! he's been torturing us for the entire year!" Neville shouted, refusing to lower his wand regardless of the fact that Ron's older brother was in the way.

"First of all Longbottom." Snape spoke up, still sneering at the teenager heedless of the situation he was currently in. "I killed Albus at his request. A deed I was reluctant to carry out if you must know. As for my actions during this school year; trust me when I tell you that you should be thankful that it was me who sat as the Hogwarts Headmaster and not one of the Dark Lords more, enthusiastic followers."

"Severus Snape has been working deep cover under the orders of Professor Dumbledore." Bill explained. "He has been doing what he can to limit the actions of You-Know-Who's Death Eaters."

"When I was informed of Potter's disappearance and that you would all be arriving I made sure that all students were to be in their dormitories and only the Dark Lords followers were on patrol so as to avoid any unwanted casualties when the Order arrived." Snape explained. "Minerva is securing the grounds as we speak. Now, do you have the Diadem or has all this been for nothing?"

The reminder of the critical nature of what was underway had Hermione push aside her uncertainty regarding the former Potion Master as she rushed over to Bill and handed over the Horcrux.

Bill nodded gratefully before pulling out the Diadem and tossing the bag it had been contained within aside. "Good. With three of his six Horcruxes we can overpower the ritual that will destroy the Horcruxes to a point where a cascading failure will reached."

"What does that mean?" Ron asked, not at all understanding.

"Arithmancy places magical power within numbers." Hermione began, explaining to Ron as Bill and the others finalised their preparations for the ritual. "This ritual that is able to safely destroy Horcruxes will be used to destroy three at the same time. Performed by seven Curse Breakers the collected power will have a wider effect. It is why it was so important we find the Diadem before we destroy the Locket and Cup. If we have all three and destroy them at the same time like this the destruction ritual will reach out to any other Horcux that shares a soul with these and destroy them as well."

"Meaning..."

Hermione sighed in frustration at how slow Ron was at getting the significance. "One Ritual, destroying Three Horcrux's performed by Seven Curse Breakers. Three powerful aspects within Arithmancy. That will have a ripple effect and destroy Nagini without us ever having to take it from You-Know-Who's side."

Ron brightened, understanding hitting him and a sense of awe coming over his expression. "That's brilliant! So once this Ritual's done, we win right? I mean You-Know-Who doesn't have his Horcruxes any more so he's toast!"

Snape shook his head, resisting the powerful urge to smack the dullard across the back of the head. "Hardly Weasley. The Dark Lord is still an incredibly powerful wizard. This Ritual takes away his immortality, it does not take away his power. It will however alert him to what we have done and draw him here."

"W-what?" Ron paled. "H-he's going to be coming here?"

"Unfortunately yes Ron." Bill spoke up, directing Ragnok to place the three Horcrux's in the center of the Ritual circle. "The connection between a Horcrux and its creator is powerful. Destroying merely one would have a profound effect on its connecting wizard. Taking out three like this with the aftermath taking out a forth? He will know exactly where it all started."

"We are ready." The sole Goblin spoke up, hobbling over to take his position at his assigned mark. "William. Are you prepared?"

Bill nodded, turning away from his brother and moving to take his place at the Ritual circle. "I truly hope he is safe, but I'm thankful Harry disappeared. It has pushed us all to step up. To prove to ourselves and all those around us that we don't have to give in to fear. How different would have this all have been, if we had simply found this strength before, instead of relying on a teenager to save us."

"Μια δωροδοκία για το Πνεύμα των ορίων. Εδώ βρίσκεται μια στριμμένη ψυχή που αψηφά το Θάνατο. Φέρτε τον Ανακτητή των Ψυχών, δείξτε σε αυτόν αυτόν που θα πολεμούσε τον Πλούσιο. Τον πηγαίνετε πέρα από τον ποταμό, ώστε να μπορεί να ξέρει το βασανισμό για την υπηρέτρια του"

XxxX

It was almost amusing; to walk down the winding cobbled stone street and see the curious, judging gazes of passing by men and women going about their daily lives. That they would look at him, sneering at his muggle attire. Black jeans and boots with a dark blue v-necked shirt over which was worn an open white jacket with a fur lined collar and pair of gold chain bracelets hung from his wrists. He most certainly did not look like a wizard like this.

He ignored the mutterings and pointed stares as he walked down Diagon Alley. The attention of sheep.

It had been the better part of two months since he had made his departure of the Forest of Dean. Nearly two months since he had discovered an unknown and unbelievable inheritance. Nearly two months since the friends he had thought he could count on for everything had left him to finish such an important undertaking alone. Just as the magical world at large seemed to expect him to do everything alone.

In truth, back in that tent when Hermione and Ron had left him, he had wanted to go with them. To leave behind Voldemort, the Horcruxes, that wretched Prophecy. To leave it all behind and enjoy his life; to simply be _Harry Potter_. Not some storied 'Boy-Who-Lived.' but just _a _boy who lives.

When he had been able to unlock Bab-ilu and inherit the Gate of Babylon as the Heir of Gilgamesh; King of Heroes, it had been an awakening of sorts. He had been reborn the moment the Gate attuned to his very being.

Quite literally in a manner of speaking.

His Wand had stopped working completely. When he had attempted to pack up the tent to relocate he had found that his wand had become unresponsive, not even a spark or that warmth that he had long since become familiar with whenever holding it. He had attempted to Apparate only to fail completely. Eventually he had come to the conclusion that whatever had happened to his body to bind the Gate to him had made him unable to use magic any longer.

It had not been until he had first opened the Gate of Babylon of his own will that he learned that while he was unable to perform the wanded magic he had learned of at Hogwarts, it did not mean he was without magical power. If anything, he was far, far stronger than he had been before.

It had almost galvanised him into taking the fight directly to Voldemort himself; kill the Dark Lord and take out his Horcruxes after the fact.

It had been a report of the Wizarding Wireless Network; the pirate channel that Hermione, Ron and he had been listening to to hear of how the world was reacting to Voldemort's reign, that had put that thought to rest.

The world, magical that is, was doing nothing. Muggleborn were still being rounded up and jailed for their 'theft' and rebellious people were being targeted by the Dark Lord and his followers, but no-one was actually doing anything. According to the host of the radio talk, they were all just waiting. Waiting to be saved. Waiting for the Dark Lord to be defeated. Waiting, for him. 

And it infuriated him.

Why was it that such an expectation should be placed upon the shoulders of a seventeen year old who had not even graduated magical school? Who was not trained in any way to fight against people decades older and more experienced than him?

And so he left them. He crossed the channel into France and left the fight. Left it to those unwilling to fight in the first place.

The only reason he had come back to this place at all, instead of remaining in France and enjoying his lease on life was because of a desire to reclaim what belonged to him in Gringotts. His lack of concern and interest in the Magical World did not detract from the fact that the gold, the stored and protected treasures within those Goblin Vaults was his by right.

Gringotts' reputation was already dirtied from his first year when Quirrel had broken in when attempting to steal the Philosopher's Stone. The only reason Gringotts could still to this day boast that their vaults had never been stolen from was simply the fact that the Stone had been removed from the bank earlier that day and as such Quirrel had been unable to take that which he sought.

But the Gate? None could even see its wonder lest he wish it.

No, the Goblins had sheltered the wealth of his family long enough.

Instead of approaching Gringotts directly, Harry instead walked to and entered Madam Malkins. The mutterings of sheep and the 'threat' of Aurors and Snatchers coming to arrest him 'on suspicion of being Muggleborn' might be nothing more than a minor nuisance for him, but it was unnecessary.

"Welcome to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, how can we help you today?"

Idly looking around the storefront, noting that apart from himself and Madam Malkin herself the place was otherwise empty, Harry set his gaze on the woman and walked over to the counter.

"I require a Robe." The seventeen year old spoke up. "Every day wear so nothing too extravagant. Acromantula Silk would be best."

Madam Malkin blinked, confused for a moment at the contradiction of wanting a simple day to day wear robe but wanting it made of the finest silk she had in stock. "I'm sorry, but I thought you wanted an everyday robe?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. An everyday Acromantula Silk Robe. I will assume for your sake that you are not questioning my ability to pay for such a thing."

Narrowed eyes and a sense of foreboding had the seamstress quiver in fear and quickly shook her head. "O-of course not. I will begin right away. If you would follow me I can take your measurements now."

Harry nodded his agreement and followed the woman to the side of the shop and stood up on a small stool, allowing Malkin's measuring tape to fly around him, taking measurements of his body.

With the aid of magic it took no longer than ten to fifteen minutes from start to finish for measurements to be taken and for the robe to be crafted.

Taking off his jacket, Harry tossed it over his shoulder, not even bothering to take notice of Malkins' wide eyed expression as the jacket faded away in a shower of golden motes of light. Holding the Robe out before him he examined the fabric, eyeing the needlework and shimmer of the silk against the light. Finding it, acceptable, Harry spun it around in his hands before draping it over his shoulders, not even bothering to inset his arms into the sleeves.

Making for the door Harry reached into his jeans pocket as Malkins called out to him; reminding him of the expected payment of twenty five Galleons. Withdrawing his hand from his pocket, Harry opened the door at the same time as opening his hand and dropping a handful of gems of uncut ruby and emerald to the floor. He didn't even spare the woman a glance or wait to confirm that it was an accepted payment as he left.

The approach to Gringotts was interesting for Harry. He had already spotted no less than five people lurking in shadows, staring at him from their 'hiding' spots. Snatchers, no doubt called by a supporter of the current regime to arrest the 'Muggleborn' spotted.

They would not attack now, not with him clearly making his way for Gringotts. Snatchers were greedy mercenaries. They would wait for him to leave with the intention of robbing him of his acquired wealth before turning him into the Ministry for the official reward.

Pushing open the massive marble doors of the bank, Harry slipped into line, waiting for his turn to speak to a Goblin Teller.

Thankfully, for those around him, the line progressed quickly. Most of the business today seemed to be deposits and statement inquiries from what he could overhear. He was one person away from being able to see to his own business when he saw a couple; a man in his mid to late twenties with brown hair and brown eyes alongside a small waif of a girl with blond hair and blue eyes enter the bank and make for the employees entrance at the side of the lobby. The man seemed to be quite at ease but it was the girl that drew his eye. She was far too twitchy and uncomfortable. Her eyes kept moving about the room, going from one guard to the other and even a couple of Snatchers that were within the bank.

She caught his eye for a moment just before she left the lobby, but Harry had already lost interest and turned back to the Teller as the Goblin beckoned him forward.

"What do you want?"

Harry's eye twitched minutely in annoyance. He had forgotten how, taxing Goblins could be. Taking a calming breath Harry closed his eyes and centered himself.

'_In my life as King, I found myself surrounded by sycophants and naysayers. Those who would either scorn my magnanimity or praise my every deed in search for more. Put on the face of the superior. Play the greater being and let your every breath exude pride. Do this and you will separate the wheat from the chaff. You will find those who stand with you when you fall amongst those that profit only when you rise._'

Harry had discovered much within the Gate of Babylon during those few weeks in France. Treasures beyond counting and wealth beyond measure. But perhaps the greatest thing he had discovered in his time when he explored the interior of the Gate during his time in France, during which time his exposure had turned his hair a silver color; was the crystal that bore the mystic intelligence of the King of Ancient Uruk himself. Under the guidance of that ancient king, even via a construct of limited response and intelligence, Harry had learned a great deal. He had learned what had made Gilgamesh such a beloved king and Hero to not only his people but all the Heroes that had followed him. He had learned what had made Gilgamesh such a fearsome man to his enemies and those who would stand in his way.

"What I want, Goblin, is something I very much doubt your entire race could even hope to provide." Harry finally replied, opening his eyes to lock onto the creature, a power causing them to glow ever so briefly. "My wants are not for you to fathom. But for now you may take me to my vault."

The Goblin sneered at the arrogant human, feeling only a slight amount of apprehension at the magical display via the eyes. "Key."

Harry reached into a pocket and pulled out the small golden object before tossing it onto the desk. "I expect discretion Goblin."

The Teller eyed him for a moment longer before reaching for the key and turning his gaze to it. A moment later his eyes widened in shock as the innate magic within the key informed him of the identity of the vault owner.

Waving a hand, the Goblin summoned a Cart Rider from the rear of the Lobby to come forward. "Groggut will take you to your Vault human."

The casual dismissal of the Teller was somewhat vexing as Harry swiped the key off of the desk and followed after the silent Cart Rider, but a small smirk crossed his lips. "Very well. Goodbye, Copper Counter."

The sound of crunching wood and grinding teeth was like music to his ears as Harry followed Groggut out of the lobby and to the rear of the bank. A winding , bumpy ride later and Harry was opening the door to not his Trust Vault, but the Vault belonging to the Potter Family at large.

While not as impressive as he would have expected given the understanding that from his father's side the Potters were a long lived family of Purebloods, it was more or less what he expected. The monetary wealth of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts was perhaps five to six times larger than what had been in his Trust Vault the first time he had seen it with Hagrid seven years ago. A small collection of books and scrolls filled a number of shelves to the left and a single dusty shelf at the far end of the vault held a number of wands; most likely heirlooms belonging to Potters of the past.

With Groggut still waiting in the cart several feet away from the Vaults and therefore unable to see within, Harry opened a number of gleaming golden portals, sucking the mounds of gold, silver and copper into the Gate. A handful of additional portals opened to pull in the books and scrolls and Potter wands as Harry looked around the rapidly emptying Vault.

It was as the Vault emptied that Harry found his eye drawn to something that, well did not belong. It was unlike anything he had ever seen in this world outside of the Treasures within the Gate of Babylon itself.

A long sword, made entirely out of jewelled stone. It glittered a rainbow of color as the golden light of the Gate reflected off of its multi-faceted form. And its power, it was so very close to the power of the Treasures he now possessed. Stepping up to it Harry looked down to it and saw that a roll of parchment was wrapped around the handle, secured with a piece of string. Picking up the blade the silver haired teen untied the parchment and unrolled it. Seeing a note written on it and doing his best to ignore the scent of roses wafting off of the paper, Harry quickly read through the message. A raised eyebrow and briefly throbbing forehead vein of irritation was his only reaction before he retied the message to the sword and tossed it into a portal.

By this time the Vault was completely empty. The gate having swallowed the rest of its contents while he had examined the Jeweled sword. With one last glance at the now empty Potter Vault a very small part of Harry felt, sad. Sad that the life he had led and his experiences now had him effectively abandoning the heritage of his father.

That sadness was squashed a moment later as he crossed the threshold and exited the Vault.

XxxX

By the time Groggut had brought him back to the surface Harry had noticed that the Goblin Teller that had served him was gone from the lobby and many of the bank customers had left; their own business already concluded at Gringotts. A nod of thanks to the still silent Cart Rider and Harry exited the bank.

A measure of amusement found its way into Harry's expression when he stepped out into Diagon Alley to see the five shadows that had been watching him were still there, lurking in the darkness. A survey of the immediate area had him notice that there was still a civilian presence. These mercenaries would not be all that concerned with attacking despite that.

Turning on his heel, Harry walked down the marble steps of Gringotts toward where the entrance to Knockturn Alley lay. His shadows followed after him, not at all in disagreement with taking the confrontation to the seedy parts of the Magical London's commercial district.

The moment Harry turned a corner and lost sight of Diagon Alley a wide grin took over his face. Mere moments later the five Snatchers ran into view and came a stop when they saw their target waiting for them.

"Not gunna run then Mudblood?" The lead Snatcher taunted, waving his wand lazily to indicate the winding alley beyond. "It would make things more fun if ya did."

"_Arrogance. Superiority. Mockery and disinterest. Unconventional, yet surprisingly effective tools of combat. To make your enemy believe you stand so far above them, that they are so tiny and insignificant; they either fall to their knees for mercy or rage in anger in defiance. Making mistakes for you to take advantage of and emerge victorious. It was not who I was. It is not who you should be. It is but a small part to play, a performance against a specific audience. Let them fear you. Let them hate you. They are your enemies, what care is their in how they feel?_"

Harry cocked an eyebrow in amusement. "Oh? A talking dog? Truly an amusing sight to see an animal wearing clothes and walking on its hind legs."

The Snatcher snarled in anger and fired off a red spell in retaliation for the insult; quickly and easily loosing his cool at the remark. Harry didn't even move as the spell naturally went wide and splashed harmlessly against a stone all several feet to the right of him.

"I wonder, dog." Harry continued, his grin still present as his eyes widened in an almost manic expression of delight "is it your bark, or your bite that one should be concerned with?"

"Shut your mouth you filthy Mudblood and give up!"

The grin fell into a frown as Harry stepped back in disappointment. "Neither then. Not a dog. A flea. Die, little flea."

It happened almost too fast to see and definitely too fast to react.

A golden portal opened in the air above Harry's shoulder and from its rippled surface a streak of light burst forth like a shooting star. A gurgling sound and the wet dripping of blood impacting against stone was heard as the four remaining Snatchers turned to see their leader wide eyed and feebly grasping at the sword that was impaled directly through the center of his chest.

"A nameless sword. Held by no-one of importance so fitting really to be the instrument to kill someone of no importance." Harry commented before waving a hand and dismissing the sword with a brief shower of golden light.

Turning to the other four Snatchers Harry held his arms out wide, his robe falling from his shoulders to pool at his feet. "Now, the rest of you. Answer me. Are you dogs, or fleas?"

When three of the remaining four turned and fled with the fourth snarling in anger and raising his wand to attack Harry clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Fleas."

Three more portals opened and with a succession of streaking light, the cowardly Wizards were shot down by a hail of steel. The fourth Snatcher that was on the attack was spared, affording him the chance to fire off a spell. It never hit Harry as a streak of light slammed into the ground in front of him and revealed a massive Zweihander with a blade that was perhaps a foot across and five feet long. The spell shattered against the flat of the blade with a loud and sharp crack but ultimately did nothing as it was unable to affect the weapon itself.

Stepping around the weapon Harry opened another Gate and reached in to pull out another Nameless Blade, walking up to the still casting Wizard. Swatting aside the spells almost dismissively, ignoring the results as Bombarda and Reducto spells were reflected and blew off chunks of the surrounding buildings.

When he drew close enough Harry lashed out with a swipe of his sword and the last surviving Snatcher screamed in agony as his arm was sent flying, cut off clean at the elbow.

Falling to his knees the Snatcher clutched at the bleeding stump of his arm, screaming in pain. He almost fully collapsed to the ground when Harry reached out and grabbed a fist full of hair, keeping the Wizard mostly upright.

"Come now Pureblood. Where is the fabled power that flows through your veins?" Harry asked, slapping his sword against the man's hand and forcing it away from the bleeding stump. "I see no great power or authority bleeding out of you. So where is this superior power of yours?"

"You'll get yours Mudblood." The man bit out, managing to focus enough to glare up at him in defiance. "The Dark Lord will wipe the world clean of filth like you."

Harry leaned down toward the man, putting his face level with that of the wounded Snatcher. When the man's eyes were drawn to his forehead and saw the faint shape of a lightning bolt scar there, his eyes widened in shock.

"Your so called Dark Lord is not even a dog but a worm; writhing in fear of children and babes." Harry mocked, positioning the tip of his sword to press against the Snatchers heart. "I just walked through Diagon Alley and Gringotts without disguise and the only enemy I see is but insects too stupid to even live."

Putting pressure on the sword against the man's chest Harry slowly stabbed the blade forward, inching the cold steel of the Nameless Sword toward the man's heart.

"Sheep, dogs or fleas. I have no interest in the creatures of this world. You are only dying because you were too stupid to remove yourself from under my boot."

A wet gurgle came from the dying man as the blade reached and pierced through his heart, exiting out his back as the blade fully impaled him.

Harry looked down at the corpse and shook his head sadly. If only these people had let him pass by. He wanted nothing from this world any longer. They could have lived had they just ignored him.

XxxX

With his business concluded in Diagon Alley it had taken no time at all to return to France across the channel. To leave the U.K entirely. He had simply pulled out a golden staff, six foot long covered in carefully etched runes and tapped it against the ground at his feet. The power of the staff had him vanish in a bright flash of multi-colored light only to reappear in an identical flash outside his home in the countryside of France; next to the small cottage that served as his home.

Walking up to the front door of his cottage, Harry pulled the door open and walked in, opening a golden Gate as he entered the living room. A crystal, spherical in shape and covered in glittering runes of silver and gold fell from the rippling portal to gently float a half foot above the coffee table in the middle of the living room.

Closing the front door and dismissing his staff back to the Gate of Babylon, Harry walked further into the living room to seat himself on a sofa just as the crystal begun to glow and form a projection of a man with blonde hair and red eyes.

"_Once more you call upon my crystal Heir? What lesson shall I impart upon you this day?_" The construct of Gilgamesh spoke, its image perfectly formed by the powers of the crystal to the point where it even seated itself in a recliner opposite the silver haired teenager.

"I recovered the treasures of my family."

"_Only a careless fool entrusts his wealth and his treasures into the care of the unworthy._" Construct-Gilgamesh commented; the 'programming' of its existence unable to properly facilitate a response. "_The Gate of Babylon holds all of the Kings Treasures. There is no greater vault._"

"I was, attacked." Harry informed with a shrug. "A small group of mercenaries who wanted to capture me for a bounty. I killed them all."

"_It is not weakness to slaughter an enemy. To lay waste to their flesh and cast their souls into the abyss._" Gilgamesh commented, its expression becoming hard, fierce even. "_When one raises a sword against you they first must be prepared for their own death. It is not only right, but just to defend yourself to their end._"

"It wasn't even hard, that is what bothers me." Harry continued with a frown. "I cut them down without any hesitation or difficulty."

"_Mind yourself Heir. A single victory against a mongrel does not mean you will not someday face a genuine threat._" Gilgamesh warned sternly. "_I myself faced the gods and goddesses of our homeland and while I did stand in victory for a time. Ultimately even I failed. In my time as King I did not hone my skills as far as I truly could have. I became complacent and foolhardy in my youth. A mistake you will not make. Learn. Continue to grow in the knowledge that there is an equal to your power and you cannot know if it be friend or foe._"

Harry nodded in understanding. It was an old lesson of this construct's; there was always a greater foe out there, somewhere.

"I understand. I am ready to continue my lessons."

XxxX

It had been two days since his sojourn to Diagon Alley and Gringotts. In that time Harry had allowed the Construct-Gilgamesh to take him to task. Instruction in swordplay and combat as well as continuing the strict and brutal training regime the mystic intelligence had planned out to put him in fighting shape. As the construct was nothing more than a projected illusion, Harry was forced to learn his swordplay and combat forms on his own against imaginary enemies, it was still effective given that for every mistake he made Construct-Gilgamesh would lay into him with a nigh endless stream of verbal abuse and humiliation. It had served a dual purpose; this method of punishment. Because of it Harry had found his own temperament and patience improving. He no longer acted so impulsively and was able to maintain a calm that would have been impossible for him a year ago.

Harry was currently training with a spear; blood red and practically vibrating with blood-lust when he felt it.

It had started as a pressure in his temple, like a budding headache. Ignored easily enough. Harry had been trained to ignore discomforts at an early age and recently had been able to learn to ignore incredible pain.

But when he suddenly felt as if someone had thrust the Bolt of Zeus in his head and turned it on, he could not prevent himself from collapsing in agony. His agony let lose a pulse of magical power from his body, disrupting the projection of Gilgamesh and causing the crystal to drop to the grass as it was shut down. Clawing at the ground, Harry tried to bite back a scream as he felt his head split open and a thick, almost tar like substance leak out and drip down his forehead.

All the while a single image kept flashing at the forefront of his mind. In rapid pulses like a light rapidly being turn on and off over and over again he saw the image of Hogwarts' Great Hall. Its candles and their flickering light. A large ritual circle. He saw Hermione, Ron, Bill and Snape along with a Goblin and five other witches and wizards he could not identify.

'_I truly hope he is safe, but I'm thankful Harry disappeared. It has pushed us all to step up. To prove to ourselves and all those around us that we don't have to give in to fear. How different would have this all have been, if we had simply found this strength before, instead of relying on a teenager to save us._'

Three objects, locket, Diadem and Cup; the Horcruxes, shrieking and twisting as they were melted and destroyed by the power of whatever ritual these people had enacted.

Darkness.

When Harry came to, waking from the blissful unconsciousness the experience had cast him into, it was night. The moon and stars shone overhead and the cool air soothed his skin as his body calmed down from its experience.

Heaving himself to his feet Harry saw the discoloration in the grass where he had fallen. Even in the dark of night it looked so distinctly different from the surrounding grass. Like it had died. Wiping at the sticky wetness at his forehead he saw a thin film of blackened blood smearing his fingers.

"...mark him as his equal." Harry muttered, wiping his forehead free of the black blood before cleaning his hand against his pants. "Son of a bitch. He made me a Horcrux."

Rubbing at his forehead to alleviate the lingering pain, Harry returned to the cottage, heading for the bathroom to shower and clean up, all the while thinking over the vision he had seen in his agony.

"Bill, Hermione, Ron and even Snape?" He muttered as he padded out of the bathroom with a towel draped over his shoulder having finished his shower. "They did it. They finally stood up and fought back. Without me."

Dressing himself in a pair of black slacks, a white button up long sleeve shirt and an open black jacket Harry looked around the cottage that was his home in thought. They had finally done it. Those sheep had proven to both themselves and now to him, that they could actually stand up and defy the wolf. They had not only found and stolen two more of Riddle's Horcruxes, but had destroyed them and given the effect it had on him, all the others connected to them.

"All I wanted was for them to be able to stand up and do something for themselves without relying on someone else." Harry muttered, running a hand through his hair as he walked out of home and out into the night, a burst of golden light summoning a Runed golden Staff. "And they did."

XxxX

The castle itself seemed to shake from the force of the magic assailing the defensive barrier that Professors McGonagall, Slughorn and Flitwick had erected a massive and powerful shield to completely envelope the castle in preparation for Voldemort's arrival. The Ritual had worked perfectly. The three Horcruxes they had collected had all been destroyed; now nothing more than twisted piles of molten metal. Bill had confirmed that the magical power of the ritual had spread out to reach the other Horcruxes of the Dark Lord.

When an Hour later, mere moments after the castle's defences had been activated in the form of its thousands of knight statues and armors and the protective shield put in place, the Dark Lord and the entirety of his gathered army of Death Eaters, Giants, Werewolves and Dementors had arrived from the Forbidden Forest.

The Order and every ally they had been able to call upon were spread out around the castle; positioned in places that were vulnerable to breach from the invading force. Ron had gone with Neville to take out the bridge that connected the Forbidden Forest to the main courtyard so that in the event that the barrier fell, no force could gain entry through that route. Hermione herself was with the Professors at the main entry way to Hogwarts.

There was no stopping this battle. Something Voldemort agreed with her on when a powerful beam of light, arcing and twisting like a shaft of lightning slammed into the barrier, ripping it apart like tissue paper.

Her knuckles whitened as Hermione tightened her grip on her wand as she watched, terrified as the shield fell apart, scattered in the wind from the force of that monumental piece of magic.

What happened next was a blur of light, debris and screams.

The Death Eaters of Voldemort's armies charged in with a manic fervor that caused some hesitation, however small in the defenders of Hogwarts. The sweeping cold and despair that proceeded the Dementors was enough so that by the time a defence could be rallied in the form of several Patroni pushing the demons back, several of the defenders had already been hit by the charging Death Eaters. Professor Slughorn was already bleeding from a transfigured pike to the side and off to the side one of Bills Curse Breaker friends was covered in soot from a fiery explosion.

"_Why do you resist?_"

There were several cries of fear from the defenders as they continued to fight against the Death Eaters, Hermione herself dodging a killing curse to reply back with a stunning charm. The voice of Voldemort had echoed into the heads of every man, woman and child.

"_We are all the same. Each and every one of us magical._" The Dark Lord's voice continued its taunting in their minds. "_My friends needlessly shed magical blood when all is needed is for you all to stop. Why do you fight against your own brothers and sisters?_"

Hermione quickly transfigured a wall of stone in front of her which exploded as a powerful blasting curse slammed into it. A twist of her wand and muttered phrase had the shards animate into birds of stone that immediately turned to assault the caster; Crabbe Snr.

"_Surrender._" Voldemort continued. "_Lay down your wands, accept me and this can all end. If you continue to fight, then you will all die. Beginning with Luna Lovegood._"

All across Hogwarts, each and every defender saw vision flash through their minds, sent to each of them by Voldemort via whatever magic he had been using to mentally address them.

Hermione felt tears well in her eyes from what she saw. Poor Luna, so small and frightened. Covered in dirt and pale from what could only be a prolonged period in captivity, chained in place atop an overlook with Hogwarts positioned behind her.

"_Your surrender will be accepted if each and every one of you discharge red sparks into the air and then drop your wands. If you do not do this within ten seconds._" The vision returned with an arm that could only belong to the Dark Lord; grasping a familiar knotted wand, aimed at a crying Luna. "_Then your deaths will follow this girls._"

Hermione almost felt her resolve crumble. Luna was her friend. Her strange, odd friend, but her friend all the same.

10...9...8

The Death Eaters, all apparently aware of the ultimatum of their Lord were sneering and laughing at the plight of the defenders. Still attacking ruthlessly with no signs of stopping.

...7...6...5...4...3

Looking off to the side Hermione could see the pain in Professor Flitwick's expression. This was his charge. He was head of Ravenclaw and one of his Claws was going to die if they didn't surrender. But if they did, then more would be lost than just one girl.

2...1...

"_**Ig-Alima!**_"

Everyone, Defender and Death Eater alike came to a complete standstill and looked on in awe as a giant sword, colossal and as large as even the tallest tower in Hogwarts itself, crashed down from the heavens. The vision Voldemort had been sending showed only that Luna had disappeared from view as a veritable wall of steel separated him from his victim.

The vision faded away in that moment and Hermione looked up in wonder and disbelief as a number of golden circles of rippling light took form in the air surrounding that overlook.

What was this?

XxxX

Harry frowned in displeasure as he watched the dust and debris displaced by Ig-Alima; the Mountain Felling Sword settled. He had been unaware that Luna was a prisoner of Voldemort. He felt some measure of guilt in that. He did not know the odd little blonde all that well, but she was his friend and she had been there at the Department of Mysteries helping him when he had needed it. That she had been captive to the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters irked him.

Calling forth a number of Gates around him and readying his treasures, Harry dismissed the Staff of Heimdall; the Treasure that allowed him transportation to any location he desired via Bifrost with the condition of the desired location being clearly and accurately envisioned within the minds eye. Stepping up to Luna from behind, reaching out and taking a hold of the conjured chains that were binding the terrified girl.

"Hey Luna, alright there?" He asked with a reassuring smile as her head snapped around to look at him.

"H-Harry?"

Her disbelief was understandable. With silver hair and his iconic lightning bolt scar now gone thanks to Bill's Ritual the only thing that really connected the new Harry Potter to the one everyone knew was his Emerald green eyes.

"It's me." He reassured, tightening his grip on the chains and breaking them, releasing the young witch from her bindings. "I'm sorry I didn't save you sooner. I didn't know you were in danger."

Luna rubbed her wrists to alleviate the ache the conjured shackles before wiping the tears from her eyes. "It's alright. you're here now."

Harry smiled and nodded. When he heard the sound of a spell hitting and splashing uselessly against the flat of Ig-Alima's blade his smile fell away and he turned away from Luna and over to where Hogwarts lay, watching as the Death Eaters and their forces continued their fight with a significant portion of them breaking off from the attack to return to their master; to investigate the source of Ig-Alima's arrival.

"I suppose I am." Harry said absently, several more Gate's opening in the air above him one after the other. "Can you hide? Get away from this place?"

Luna nodded. "They took my wand, but I can hide at the tree line at the Forbidden Forest."

Harry nodded. "Good. Go now."

More and more Gates continued to open, already numbering in the dozens with several more still opening. Swords of all shapes and designs, axes and spears and halberds poked out from the Gates as Harry continued to call upon the Gate of Babylon. One for each Death Eater.

When another spell could be heard splashing against Ig-Alima, Harry rolled his eyes and dismissed the weapon; sending it back to the Gate in a shower of golden light.

"Is that all you are capable of Tom?" Harry asked, his voice causing the Dark Lord to halt in his efforts to destroy the giant sword with his wand. "If one spell does not work simply cast it again and again?"

The Dark Lord's crimson eyes widened in rage when he saw the amused Emerald eyes of his greatest enemy staring back at him. Not even taking any great deal of notice at the change in hair color or how different the Boy-Who-Lived's physique was from the last time they had seen one another.

"You."

Harry's mouth stretched into a wide grin, his eyes lighting up with amusement and stretching his arms out wide as if to display himself. "Me."

"Finally come to meet your death Harry Potter?" Voldemort sneered, apparently dismissing any possible connection between the appearance of that titanic sword and the countless shimmering lights overhead to the appearance of the so called 'Chosen One.' "You don't even have your wand. Have you finally accepted that you cannot best me?"

Harry lowered his arms and tucked his hands into his pockets, still grinning as he continued opening more and more Gates. "What use do I have for a stick? So fragile and unremarkable."

A ripple of light formed in front of Harry, causing Voldemort's eyes to widen as the connection finally was made in the man's mind. When Harry reached in and pulled out a goblet; made of the purest of gold and filled with a blood red liquid, he raised it in toast to the Dark Lord, mocking the man before bringing it to his lips.

Taking a moment to enjoy the wine, Harry swirled the drink, peering into it for a moment before returning his gaze to the fuming Dark Lord. "You expect me to wave around a cheap piece of wood, shouting out meaningless words. Barking like a puppy." Another gate formed next to Harry's head, a shaft emerging. "With but one of these Treasures in my possession I outmatch every wand you could possibly muster in pathetic defiance. And I possess them all."

There was a resounding noise, like the booming of thunder as the hundreds of Gates overhead discharged the weapons within them. Raining down upon the landscape akin to divine punishment. The screams of terror and agony that ripped through the air as Voldemort Death Eaters were slaughtered like cattle sent shivers down the spines of the Defenders of Hogwarts. Seeing spears of light slam into the Death Eaters and even Dementors revealing swords, spears, axes and several other types of weaponry impaled within them. The horrified awe as even the Dementors succumbed to death was palpable.

"Like this one." Harry indicated to the shaft next to him with his goblet, ignoring not only the carnage he had unleashed but also the mix of fear and rage in Riddle's form. "Tell me, are you familiar with the legend of Perseus and the quest he took that saw him slay the Immortal Gorgon Medusa?"

Voldemort was silent, his wand not even raised as he looked at the boy he had tried to kill when he had been just a child only to fail. The boy he had tried to trick into allowing him to live once more by surrendering the Philosopher's Stone. The child that had escaped him upon his glorious rebirth. The boy that had continued to defy him at every opportunity just like his parents before him.

The boy that possessed a power he had never before even considered. One that even now he could not understand.

"Harpe." Harry continued, still grinning, still taking no notice of the effect his actions was having on the Dark Lord. "The Immortal Slaying Scythe. Used by the Hero Perseus to slay Medusa who could not be killed by mortal hands. That legend endowed Harpe with a terrible power. It kills immortals."

Voldemort paled slightly, the significance of such a claim not at all going unnoticed.

"No Horcruxes. No magical cheats. No exceptions."

There was no sound. No light to indicate the weapon had been fired. Just the shifting of wind and the dull thud of Voldemorts severed head hitting the ground followed by his body.

"Only death."

XxxXxxXxxX

**A/N**

**Merlins Balls! that is the longest chapter we have ever done in the history of our writing! don't get used to it though, this is an outlier. The only reason this chapter was longer than normal was due to there being a lot going on right now that needed to be done for this chapter. **

**Harry's personality changes are the result of the lessons the Gilgamesh A.I has been giving him on how to behave in order to achieve maximum results in specific situations so while he will in time come to display 'Gil-moments' it will not take over the entirety of what Harry Potter is.**

**One a final note, who can tell us what Harry found in Gringotts? An imaginary cookie to whomever can guess what we plan to use it for.**

**Next week; Never Alone.**


	4. Hero or Villian

_Disclaimer: The following story is a fan-made creation. I do not own Harry Potter, Type Moon or Highschool DxD. Please support the original material._

"Defying me to the very end, huh?" Speech.

"_Enuma Elish!_" Magic/Noble Phantasm Attack. Flashback Speech. Phone/Magic/Etc Speech.

"█▄██▄▄█▄▄█▄" Inarticulate/Bezerker Roar/s.

"**Bow before your Death!**" Monster-type Speech.

"_**Notice me!**_" speech that carries particular emphasis or weight to it.

XxxXxxXxxXxxX

_GILGAMESH went abroad in the world, but he met with none who could withstand his arms till be came to Uruk. But the men of Uruk muttered in their houses, 'Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his amusement, his arrogance has no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children; yet the king should be a shepherd to his people. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of the noble; yet this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute. - The Epic of Gilgamesh._

_XxxX_

_Previously:_

"_Harpe." Harry continued, still grinning, still taking no notice of the effect his actions was having on the Dark Lord. "The Immortal Slaying Scythe. Used by the Hero Perseus to slay Medusa who could not be killed by mortal hands. That legend endowed Harpe with a terrible power. It kills immortals."_

_Voldemort paled slightly, the significance of such a claim not at all going unnoticed._

"_No Horcruxes. No magical cheats. No exceptions."_

_There was no sound. No light to indicate the weapon had been fired. Just the shifting of wind and the dull thud of Voldemorts severed head hitting the ground followed by his body._

"_Only death."_

XxxXxxXxxX

There was a sense of disappointment in Harry as he looked down at the corpse that had fallen to the ground at his feet. To see the monster that had been the focus of so many nightmares once upon a time now nothing more than carrion, it made all his previous fears and concerns so, pointless.

This was the monster that lurked in the shadows of every magical child's bedroom? The demon that had brought the British Magical World to its knees in terror?

With a shake of his head; Harry sent Harpe back into the Gate and walked away from the decapitated corpse of the creature that had once been Tom Marvolo Riddle, forever closing that chapter to his life.

Walking to the edge of the hill that overlooked Hogwarts, the silver haired teen looked down to the ruin he had unleashed. The landscape was littered with craters and the torn open corpses of the Death Eaters that had been slaughtered under the assault of his airstrike via Gate of Babylon.

Hogwarts was on fire, burning and collapsing in parts as a result of the Death Eaters assault on the ancient school of magical learning. It invoked a sense of pity within Harry; that this place, that had once felt more like a home to him over anywhere else, had been so very nearly destroyed.

He heard Luna approach, the waif of a girl having left her hiding place at the edge of the Forbidden Forest to come to his side after seeing that the danger was gone.

"It's odd." Harry commented, still looking over to the castle as he felt the young witch come to stand by his side. "I know that had I seen this just a year ago I would be devastated. This was once my home. But, now, I feel only sympathy. That this place had to suffer so needlessly."

"It can be fixed." Luna pointed out calmly, her eyes briefly flicking over the various dead bodies of the Death Eaters before turning to the castle as well. "It will take some time, but before you know it Hogwarts will be back to the way it was before."

Harry deigned not to comment. He did not believe it would be that simple. Reconstruction would be relatively easy, that was true enough. But Hogwarts would never truly go to what it was before all of this. It could not. It should not. So many people had died both here and afar because of the madness of a former student and the machinations of a former headmaster of this place. It should be remembered.

"You killed a lot of people Harry Potter."

Harry shrugged. "How else could I have possibly put an end to this? Boy-Who-Lived, Chosen One, the man destined to defeat the Dark Lord. How could one possibly live up to such expectations without bloodshed? Dumbledore would have preached forgiveness and love as solutions." The teen turned his head and looked down to an inquisitive Luna, locking her eyes to his. "You tell me Luna, would forgiveness have been enough to end this?"

To her credit Luna actually considered the question instead of answering immediately. Her face scrunched up into a frown as she looked from the piercing green eyes of her savior to the death and destruction that was laid out before her.

"My daddy died you know." She spoke up quietly, broken. "During my captivity in Malfoy Manor the Death Eaters, they told me daddy killed himself. He couldn't handle it; my capture, the impossible demand to find you for them."

"Do you blame me for that?"

The blond shook her head. "No. its not your fault. Its not daddy's fault. it's theirs." she waved a hand out to indicate to the bodies of her tormentors. "So many families have been broken because of these people. So many fathers and mothers have been taken from their children. So many children have been taken from their mothers and fathers. No-one was stopping them. It wasn't forgiveness that saved me. It wasn't love that stopped Voldemort and his followers from killing more people. It was you."

She gave him a smile at this, looking up to him with a gratitude that had him returning the expression in kind. "Thank you for saving me."

Harry reached over and patted a hand on her head, ruffling her hair before turning away from her to return his gaze back to Hogwarts; spotting the distant figures of the Defenders of Hogwarts gathering in the castle's main courtyard. "Well then, shall we go see how many others share your thoughts?"

Luna nodded in agreement and together, the pair made their way down the hill toward the still burning school.

The approach to the courtyard was completed in relative silence with Luna having taken the time to take in the appearance her friend had now taken. So very different to what she remembered of Harry Potter from the last time she had seen him at Bill and Fluer's wedding. No longer with messy black hair and his small, thin build. Now with his swept back silver hair that seemed to glow in the moonlight and the way his clothes seemed to cling to his body showed that he had certainly picked up some muscle in the time since then. Even the way he walked, it was so very different, so confident.

"Luna?"

The sixteen year old turned away from her changed friend and looked over toward the speaker that had called out to her. Seeing Hermione blinking in surprise at seeing her, Luna brightened and skipped over to the bookworm.

"Hullo Hermione! Did you see the Fairy Lights? So pretty!" She sang as she skipped over, taking a small measure of pleasure in knowing that her words would serve only to further the older girls confusion.

"Fairy Lights? What, I mean, where-how are you okay?" Hermione asked, accepting the tight hug the smaller girl initiated when the pair finally met. "We saw the vision. You-Know-Who and that giant sword. What happened? How did you get away? Oh I'm so glad you alright!"

Luna smiled widely at the frantic Gryffindor. Trust Hermione to have so many questions to ask without allowing time to answer any of them. "I'm glad that you are alright to Hermione."

Behind the pair, Harry walked further into the courtyard, hands in pockets as he surveyed the destruction of the once open and grand courtyard that had served as the main entry to Hogwarts' Great Hall and the rest of the school at large. It was littered with rubble from a half collapsed tower as well as collapsed walls and shattered stone flooring. Chunks of still burning wood and stone wreathed in magical fire crackled in places throughout the courtyard with what little open area left was occupied by the gathered Defenders.

"-and then Harry saved me."

The teenager in question turned back to where Luna was regaling Hermione and those gathered behind her with the story of what had happened upon hearing his name.

Hermione blinked in surprise, not expecting to hear Luna claim that Harry had come and saved her. The only one that was with the girl after all had been that boy with the strange silver hair.

Silver hair and...green...eyes?

"Harry?"

The current possessor of the Gate of Babylon shifted his eyes over to Hermione, seeing the expression of guarded hope, relief and fear in her expression. "Mione."

Hermione covered her mouth with a hand to smother a shocked gasp that fled her body when she heard the voice of her until now absent friend. Regardless of how things had been left when she had last seen him in the Forest of Dean; this was her best friend of seven years. There was no way she could ever mistake the sound of his voice in the way he said her name.

She took a half step forward, ready to rush him and throw herself into his arms when she forced herself to stop as a thought hit her.

"Harry, w-was that you? That light that killed all those people? Did you do that?"

Harry cocked an eyebrow. He could hear the accusation in her tone; the disapproval. In all honesty, he wasn't all that surprised. Hermione had always possessed a higher sense of morality than others. It had taken years to loosen her attitude toward rule breaking enough to have her agreeable to some of the antics they had gotten up to in the past. But even then the young woman had never quite lost her belief and faith in justice and 'the law.'

"Yes. That was me." Harry admitted with a nod, taking note of the collective gasps from the assembled witches and wizards at his confession. "I killed Voldemort as well as his followers."

"Oh Harry." Hermione shook her head sadly, stepping back in horror at the casual admittance to what she considered mass murder. "Why? You could have stunned them. Why would you need to kill all those people?"

Harry shook his head, disappointment in the woman that had once been his best friend in the whole world. "What did you think was going to happen Hermione? Did you think that if a confrontation was forced between myself and Voldemort's Death Eaters that I would 'stop them'? That I would stick to some childish ideal of 'defeating' my enemy?"

He looked around at the others; seeing Professor McGonagall, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Lupin and Tonks, a man who looked remarkably like Professor Dumbledore and several others all regarding him with mixed expressions of horror, anger, disgust and in much rarer cases; understanding.

"How could any of you possibly thought this could have ended?" Harry asked, raising his voice to address the crowd. "Do you think this is some kind of fairy tale. Where you can force your enemy to simply surrender and send him to prison to repent for his wrong-doings? You did that the last time, and what happened? Nothing. The ranks of those monsters did not diminish. But now they will. Now they have."

"But it's wrong Harry." Hermione urged, very clearly wanting her friend to see that what he had done was so very wrong. "Professor Dumbledore always believed in second chances."

"Yes, the belief of a man with no stake in this whole thing and who continued to live completely unaffected by the evils these people did with their 'second chances'." Harry scoffed. "A man who made sure that his death would ultimately prove meaningless."

"How dare you!"

Harry shifted his eyes to a red faced McGonagall, enraged at his dismissal of the death of what she considered a great man.

"Albus gave his life to this fight Mr. Potter!" The Scottish woman roared, the tip of her wand glowing with the magical power of her anger. "To protect the lives of every single man woman and child in this castle he-"

"-Made sure that when he died it allowed a Death Eater control over the wards and saw an entire generation placed under the control of a monster." Harry interrupted. "But that is irrelevant. That was then. This is now. What would you have done? Simple; you would have died. All of you would have died like dogs had I not come here and dealt with this problem for you. The fact that you were able to stand on your own to face Voldemort is the only reason I am even here now."

"You mean you really would have left us to deal with You-Know-Who and run away?" Ron spoke up, glowering at the silver haired teen. "It was your job! you're the one who was supposed to fight him in the first place. Why did we even have to prove ourselves to you for you to do what you are supposed to."

"Do you hear that Hermione? Doing this was 'my job'." Harry pointed out with an amused smirk, indicating to the red faced Ronald Weasley. "You expect me to be the one to save you from a creature of your own making and would then vilify my methods. Is it any wonder that I chose to wipe my hands of this place?"

"Harry, by killing these people you only show that you no better than they are!" The bookworm continued, growing almost desperate in her attempts to make Harry realise exactly what he had done. "How are you any different from Voldemort now that you've butchered all these people!?"

A flicker of golden light pulsed through the air above and around Harry as his eyes narrowed harshly at the comparison.

"That is quite harsh don't you think Hermione?"

The narrowed eyed Harry and wide eyed Hermione turned to look over to Lupin; who had stepped out from the crowd to intervene.

"Regardless of your own thoughts on this, the fact is that without Harry's help, so many more would have died on our side of things." The Werewolf pointed out. "Now I am not condoning Harry's actions. I myself find it difficult to simply accept this level of death, regardless of what side has suffered it, but the fact remains that the people that have been killed here would have gone on to bring so much more suffering and pain. Voldemort was a monster who wanted to bring only death and pain. Do you really think it's fair to put Harry here on the same standing as that?"

Hermione faltered. Her resolve and strong opinion on the matter shaken at the words of someone she held in high regard. The werewolf had a point. Of course he did. Voldemort thrived on death and torture. He inflicted pain on others for nothing more than whim and amusement and killed because he was either bored or annoyed. Of course it wasn't fair to paint Harry; whom had just saved everyone from that kind of monster and the animals that followed him, with the same brush.

But still.

"Maybe so." Hermione conceded. "It's still wrong."

Harry shook his head. He could see that the Hermione's very vocal opinion was winning everyone over instead of Professor Lupin's thought on the matter. While he could see that people like Neville and Kingsley were of the same mind as Lupin; that while not ideal it was somewhat acceptable, the rest of the gathered Defenders were now looking at him with the same eyes as Hermione.

Disgust and fear. Like _he_ was the monster now.

"Perhaps I should have stayed away then." Harry commented with a frown. "Perhaps I should have left you all to your fate. Let you deal with this yourselves."

"Yes Harry." Hermione nodded in agreement, her eyes hard and lined with tears as she turned from Lupin to face him; gathering her resolve. "I think you should have. And I also think you should leave. Just go Harry."

Harry just scoffed. Reminded once again why he had left this world in the first place. So quick to turn on him the moment he was no longer needed. So quick to push him down a path and then blame him for taking it.

In the end he did what his once friend asked of him.

He pulled out the Staff of Heimdall. And left.

XxxX

Harry was able to put the events of Hogwarts behind him for the most part upon his return to his little cottage in France. With his return he had thrown himself back into the training regime that Construct-Gilgamesh had created with all of his mind and body; to completely lose himself within the distraction it provided.

Truth was, he was affected by the response he had gotten from those that he had regarded so dearly more than he had expected. The looks, the accusations and the fear from people that had abandoned him to a duty that he had never asked for nor wanted. He had somewhat anticipated them, but he had not believed that they would impact so keenly.

So Harry did what he did best when faced with something that he could not deal with; he tried to ignore it by throwing himself into something else.

He learned more about the contents of the Gate of Babylon; more about how to call upon specific treasures within it as well as how to maintain keen awareness of the vast riches within. Construct-Gilgamesh educated him in the trials that the ancient king had faced in his life; the encounters with the Gods of his time and the mortal tribulations that had given risen to conflict regarding his rule and the debate as to whether he was more tyrant than king.

It had been somewhat comforting; to learn that for all his power and confidence, that even Gilgamesh himself; the King of Heroes and owner of all of the worlds riches, had gone through moments of self doubt and experienced his own fair share of low points.

Currently Harry was in the process of training sword manoeuvres with a nameless sword pulled from the Gate when he noticed an Owl winging its way toward him in the distance. Given that it was the middle of the day and that he could also see a letter clutched in its talons told him all that he really needed to know.

The Magical World was not content to leave him alone.

With an annoyed scowl on his face, Harry turned sharply on his heel and stormed back inside, dismissing both Construct-Gilgamesh and the Noble Phantasm he had been training with back to the Gate.

"They'll never leave me be." The teenager muttered as he moved about the cottage; gathering all of his belongings together. "I need to go. Somewhere they can't find me. Somewhere that I can live without these sheep hounding me with their useless noise."

Opening Gates around the interior of the building as he went; Harry sent his things back into the safety of The King's Treasury. He was not about to leave any of his things behind to be taken by someone else.

By the time the Owl had made it to his home and perched itself atop a windowsill the building was barren of any and all furnishings.

"Alright then, let's see what they want now shall we?" Harry muttered as he turned his attention from the last of the glowing golden portals and over to the avian that was staring at him.

It wasn't hard to figure out what was wanted of him when, the moment he touched the parchment letter, he felt a powerful tug at his navel and he vanished from the cottage in a blur.

XxxX

It was with a matching blur and swirl of light that had Harry slam down harshly on a large stone chair, the letter that had brought him fluttering to the floor and bursting into flames near instantly. Still dizzy and nauseous Harry did not notice a number of chains slithering over his body until they tightened and slammed him back against the back rest of the chair, constricting tightly to the point where it would have been quite uncomfortable to breath had anyone else found themselves in his position.

The bindings brought him back to full awareness and out of his confusion to have the silver haired teenager cast his eyes to his surroundings, taking note of the familiar surroundings and assembled people seated in the stands surrounding him.

The banging of a gavel brought Harry's focus to the raised dais that was occupied by a single person. Seeing those pink robes and that smug toad face was enough to clear away the remaining fog and settle an expression of blank faced disdain upon Harry.

"Silence, please." Dolores Umbridge simpered with a wide, toad-like smile as she folded her hands over her gavel and looked about the room, looking to be feeling quite pleased with herself. "Sentencing hearing on the eighth of May. The guilty party one Harry James Potter was tried in absentia on the fifth of May on the charges of; accessory to the murder of Albus Dumbledore, evading lawful arrest, engaging in wilful terrorism."

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes, the sugary sweet voice of the woman was like nails on chalk to him. How any others managed to hide the extent of their own suffering from hearing her talk he had no idea. Instead, he turned his eyes away from the toad and to the back of the room where he saw a number of those he had once believed to be his friends, seated silently and staring back at him with a quiet, determined resolve; Hermione, Ronald, Molly and Arthur, Ginny, McGonagall, Slughorn and several others. Judging from their stone faced expressions (_something Ron was having difficulty with if his ruddy complexion was any indicator_) they were not here to speak on his behalf.

"But perhaps most troubling," Umbridge was _still_ talking. "Is the malicious and savage murder of well over a hundred Pureblood Witches and Wizards resulting in the complete eradication of several Pureblood family lines as well as the murder of the previous Minister of Magic Pius Thicknesse, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Corban Yaxley and several other Ministry Officials at the institute of Hogwarts on the Second of May."

Harry cocked an eyebrow at this. He had not known that he had taken out Voldemort's puppet Minister. That would explain how this wretch of a woman had been able to take power like this. With the puppet gone there would have been a vacuum of power for her to squeeze herself into. It was doubtful to last long given her own involvement and crimes which did explain why he was being railroaded so quickly; Umbridge knew that she didn't have the time to draw this out if she wanted to see this through.

"It is only thanks to the selfless and brave accounts of the survivors of Mr. Potters crimes at Hogwarts that we were able to fairly ensure that justice be found for the victims of this tragedy." Umbridge pointed out with a wave of her hand to the stands were the Hogwarts Defenders were seated.

Out of the corner of his eye Harry could have sworn he saw Ron puff out his chest.

"The gravity of these crimes paint a truly disturbing image of the guilty party esteemed members of the Wizengamot. An image of someone who not only possesses a frightening disregard for the lives of good, proper Wizards and Witches, but of someone with a complete disregard for the noble laws of the Ministry itself. That even now Mr. Potter shows no indication of remorse or repentance for his heinous crimes leaves me to believe that there can be no other choice regarding his sentencing; I move for the punishment of the Dementor's Kiss, to be delivered immediately."

Harry turned his head upward when he felt a sudden waft of cold air wash down toward him; seeing a lone, cloaked creature drifting down from a small open grate in the courtroom's ceiling.

"Mr. Potter, I am willing to allow you final words before your sentencing." Umbridge called out, addressing him for the first time since his arrival into the courtroom. "Is there anything you wish to say to this August body?"

"_Durandal; Ultimate Unbroken Hallow._"

The Dementor overhead screamed out so shrilly in agony that a number of the gathered magical's clapped their hands over their ears in pain as a streak of light shot out of a rippling portal at Harry's feet; slamming into the demon and pinning it to the ceiling. When the light settled those gathered were all wide eyed to see nothing more than fluttering black cloth hanging from the blade of a gleaming, beautifully forged sword; nothing more of the Dementor remaining.

With the 'threat' to his soul removed, Harry ignored the cries of alarm as he opened another Gate which dropped a jagged, fragile looking dagger into his waiting hand. Cutting it along the chain links that bound his right arm to the armrest of the chair he was chained to, the dagger briefly pulsed with light before the chains shattered like glass, freeing him.

"Final words." Harry mused as he rose to his feet, dismissing Durandal and Rule Breaker back to the Gate at the same time as he opened a number other Gates to discharge a dozen more nameless blades into the paths of several spells fired his way by attending Aurors.

"I have some final words, yes."

Turning briefly to face his former friends, he only regarded them with an expression of pity before his eyes hardened. Their eyes showed no hope or relief that he was not at risk of getting his soul sucked out of him. Only fear and shock.

"I've reached my limit of my patience." Harry spoke, turning away from the Defenders to address the Courtroom. "I returned only to reward the courage of a few that had decided that they were unwilling to lay down and die like dogs. A magnanimous gesture on my part to destroy the monster. And what reward, what gratitude to I receive? Scorn and the judgement of cowards. I would have left your world to its rot and ruin. Travelled far from this place and enjoyed my freedom. You have shown me that it would not have been enough."

Another Gate opened and a single Jewelled Sword emerged hilt first into Harry's waiting hand. Untying the parchment note that was tied to the sword, Harry eyed it with an annoyed expression before returning his gaze to the mongrels that had had _dared_ to vilify him for being the source of their salvation.

"I wipe my hands of you all. Let you quiver in fear and die when the next monster comes to your door. I'll not be there to stand to your defence."

Harry shook his head one last time, spending the last of his regard toward these people with a final, fleeting moment of pity and regret before restoring his resolve. With no more to feel toward these, sheep, Harry turned his attention back to instructions that had been left for him regarding this blade held in his hand.

A vein throbbed in his forehead once more as a sense of embarrassed anger flooded him for the humiliation he was about to suffer. All so he could finally be free of this place.

"_S-Sparkle __S__hine!_" He called out, gritting his teeth and trying to smother the embarrassed flush to his cheeks. "_This Command i-is mine!_"

Around him the nameless blades he had brought out of his Gate returned in a shower of golden light just as a steadily growing aura of bright pink light began to envelop the silver haired teen; emanating from the sword he was holding out in front of him.

From the stands the gathered Witches and Wizards blinked in confusion. Both not understanding what this criminal was going but also for how foolish it was making him look when mere moments ago he had stood with the authority and power of a god.

"_To leave this World in a Whirl is the Wish of this M-Magical G-Girl._" Harry bit his cheek to stop himself from throwing the sword away and screaming out in rage at the bastard that was forcing him to embarrass himself like this. "_Magical Jewel of Kal__ei__dio-Harry; Activate!_"

The Courtroom vanished from his sight as the Jewelled Sword activated. With the activation phrase that 'woke up' the sword completed, the pink aura that had surrounded him erupted out and completely obscured his vision in a radiant surge of every possible color of the spectrum. He felt a shift under his feet and in the space around him as the shower of color, light and shapes started to fade. The air was different now, not unusual or even strange; just different.

When his vision finally cleared he found himself standing in an open field of grass overlooking a familiar lake, sparse cloud cover allowing shafts of moonlight to illuminate his surroundings well enough.

Casting a curious eye to the now inactive sword in his hand, Harry grimaced before dropping it and allowing a Gate to open up and swallow both the sword and the discarded parchment.

With the Jewelled Sword gone and his attention now returning to his surroundings, Harry frowned thoughtfully as he looked from the lake below, over to the dark looking forest that surrounded this clearing he had found himself and the clearing itself.

He knew this place.

"So..."

Harry spun around, several Gates opening and displaying the shaking blades of a number of Noble Phantasms all itching to be fired. His eyes found the glowing red eyes of a tall, elderly looking bearded man in an expensive looking suit holding a cane in one hand, smiling innocently at him.

He already didn't like the man.

"...Did you like my sword?"

XxxXxxXxxX

**A/N**

**And so ends the Harry Potter 'arc.'**

**Harry has left the Rowling-Verse and taken his first steps out into the Moonlit World. So with this chapter we should be getting back into our schedule (_if all goes to plan_). Next chapter for Thrones will be answering the last remaining questions regarding Harry's origins and the reason why his world and the Fate world are different as well as starting our first arc within Fate.**

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	5. An Epic in The Making

_Disclaimer: The following story is a fan-made creation. I do not own Harry Potter, Type Moon or Highschool DxD. Please support the original material._

"Defying me to the very end, huh?" Speech.

"_Enuma Elish!_" Magic/Noble Phantasm Attack. Flashback Speech. Phone/Magic/Etc Speech.

"█▄██▄▄█▄▄█▄" Inarticulate/Bezerker Roar/s. Unknown/muffled/'staticy' speech

"**Bow before your Death!**" Monster-type Speech.

"_**Notice me!**_" speech that carries particular emphasis or weight to it.

XxxXxxXxxX

_The gods heard their lament, the gods of heaven cried to the Lord of Uruk, to Anu the god of Uruk: 'A goddess made him, strong as a savage bull, none can withstand his arms. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them all; and is this the king, the shepherd of his people? His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of the noble. When Anu had heard their lamentation the gods cried to Aruru, the goddess of creation, 'You made him, O Aruru; now create his equal; let it be as like him as his own reflection, his second self; stormy heart for stormy heart. Let them contend together and leave Uruk in quiet.' - The Epic of Gilgamesh._

_XxxX_

_Previously:_

_When his vision finally cleared he found himself standing in an open field of grass overlooking a familiar lake, sparse cloud cover allowing shafts of moonlight to illuminate his surroundings well enough._

_Casting a curious eye to the now inactive sword in his hand, Harry grimaced before dropping it and allowing a Gate to open up and swallow both the sword and the discarded parchment._

_With the Jewelled Sword gone and his attention now returning to his surroundings, Harry frowned thoughtfully as he looked from the lake below, over to the dark looking forest that surrounded this clearing he had found himself and the clearing itself._

_He knew this place._

"_So..."_

_Harry spun around, several Gates opening and displaying the shaking blades of a number of Noble Phantasms all itching to be fired. His eyes found the glowing red eyes of a tall, elderly looking bearded man in an expensive looking suit holding a cane in one hand, smiling innocently at him._

_He already didn't like the man._

"_...Did you like my sword?"_

XxxXxxXxxX

The only sound to break the silence invoked by the one and only Wizard Marshall; Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg was the faint sound of Harry's teeth grinding together as he fought to control his anger and annoyance. It had been incredibly embarrassing for him to have had to even utter such a humiliating incantation let alone loudly state it as he had been required to in order for the ability of the Jewelled Sword to take effect. He _could_ have done it in a more private setting where there would be no witnesses to such shame but he had felt that making a statement and declaring his departure of that _wretched_ world was well worth the embarrassment. That and ultimately he truly did not care for the opinions of those miserable sheep that he was never going to see again.

But to see the architect of his demeaning display; to stand before the one who had crafted the instrument of his departure he felt, conflicted.

One the one hand there was gratitude; he felt appreciative to have been granted the ability to take his leave of such a corrupt and inept society that had proven itself both incapable and unwilling to simply leave him be.

On the other hand his fury was at the height that he felt Gilgamesh himself could have felt to the Gods of old.

Still standing opposite to him, that infuriatingly innocent smile on his face, Zelretch "What about the dress? Did it fit well enough?"

A vein throbbed on Harry's forehead at the same time a bit of color fled his face at the horrifying thought of having to wear a dress in addition to what he had already been forced to do. "What. Dress?"

Zelretch cocked his head to the side, briefly taking in the teenager's appearance; consisting of a black muscle shirt and matching tracksuit pants, clearly not the distinctly bright, glitter covered magical girl dress.

Pouting, the Wizard Marshall snapped his fingers in realisation. "Ah right! Gave it to that Sera-girl….never mind."

Taking in a deep breath, calming himself and taking solace in the fact that all things considered; it really could have been so much worse.

Coughing into a fist, the crimson eyed man stepped aside to reveal a very out of place set up consisting of a round coffee table with a tea set resting atop it with a tall comfortable looking wingback chair positioned before it.

Seating himself down the old man raised an eyebrow at the silver haired teen in silent invitation as he held out a hand to the open space on the other side of the table.

Wanting answers and undeniably curious for what the man wanted; Harry accepted the invitation and walked over to the set up.

A golden burst of light pulsed in the open space; a large portal forming which gently lowered a grand throne of gleaming gold and flawless ivory. Carved with archaic runes, lines and symbols that were perfect blend of Sumerian, Akkadian and Aramaic with rich silk fabric draped over the armrests.

Easing into the throne, Harry leaned back and casually crossed one leg over the other as he eyed the old man carefully.

"My name," The old man started, leaning forward as he busied himself with the tea service in front of him. "As my letter would have told you, is Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. Zelretch to my friends."

Harry ignored the pointed, impish grin the man sent him. It wasn't difficult to glean that the man was inviting him to address him informally. It simply made it more amusing to refuse the unspoken offer.

"I assumed as much Kischur."

Zelretch pouted slightly at the response.

"Amongst particular circles of this world I am known by other names. Wizard Marshall, Old man of the Jewels and Kaleidoscope to name but a few. It is that last name that is more relevant right now."

Harry nodded slowly, eyebrow twitching when he saw the man prepare only a single cup of tea for himself before leaning back. Another golden portal and a steaming cup of Da Hong Pao Ooolong tea was placed on the armrest of his throne.

He afforded himself a satisfied smirk when he saw Zelretch twitch at the rich aroma that wafted from what was _the _most expensive tea the world over.

"I recall seeing mention of it in the letter you left in my family vault along with that blade of yours." Harry pointed out as he took a sip of his tea; allowing a moment of blissful satisfaction at the taste.

"In it you mentioned that the blade was something called the Kaleidosword; very creative by the way." Harry pointed out with a dry look. "You mentioned that it made use of a power of dimensions. I assumed that it would act in a similar manner to one of the riches within The King's Treasury but with the difference in that it would be able to take me to a place where I had not seen before. With the described abilities of the sword and the location I now find myself in; it is not hard to come to the conclusion that your 'Kaleidosword' has brought me to another reality."

Zelretch grinned widely, clearly very happy to hear that the lad had figured out so much from so little.

"My first question regarding all of this would have to be 'why'? Why did you place such an invaluable treasure within my family's vault; addressed to me by name, with specific instruction on how to use it?"

"It all starts with your ancestor truthfully." Zelretch began, pausing briefly only to enjoy his own drink. "Part of my capabilities as Kaleidoscope, is the ability to see into other dimensions parallel to this one. There are dimensions scattered across a vast multiverse in numbers that dwarf that of the stars in the night sky."

"The ancient king of Uruk; Gilgamesh. The first and arguably greatest of all Heroes. A legend so great it is largely considered that all Heroes that rose in his wake modelled themselves, however unknowingly, in his likeness. Across almost every dimension I could observe; this ancient king's bloodline has ended. Died out to either war, assassination or the ravages of time. I found myself curious. What would his line be like, what would emerge if his bloodline managed to survive. I was quite surprised when I found that it was actually much closer to home that the line of the King of Uruk had been able to endure the longest."

Zelretch drained the remainder of his tea before holding the cup out to Harry; a searching, hopeful look in his eye that spoke of his want for some of the nigh legendary Oolong tea that the silver haired teen himself was enjoying. Harry's hard glare caused an almost comical crocodile tear to fall from the old man's eye as his slumped down sadly.

"I found her in the aftermath of the London Blitz in 1941, orphaned as a result of the German bombing; the last surviving descendant of the King of Heroes. Lillian. She was so very young, perhaps only a few months old at the time of the Blitz. I knew, I could see that across all other versions Lillian would ultimately become another casualty of the Second World War and that the line of Gilgamesh would die out again. So I took matters into my own hands. I wanted to see what would happen if his line survived after all. So I took Lillian and passed through into another dimension where an English family had recently lost a daughter matching little Lillian's description. I altered their memories, and Lillian was able to grow up in this world as Lily Evans."

Harry nearly spilled his tea down his front. He had been expecting a story of how Zelretch had saved the family of this worlds version of his ancestor and possibly instruction on where he could find this alternate-family surviving relation of Lillian. He had _not_ been expecting to hear that the child that had been born in this world was in truth his own mother and that she had been inter-dimensionally adopted thanks to the machinations of this eccentric old man.

"I was surprised when I learned that Harry Potter was the next generation to be born of Gilgamesh's line. There are many versions of the boy-who-lived across the multiverse. Several have met versions of myself in fact while others chose to carve out paths of their own as either Whispers of Wind or Bane's of the Stars. But of all the Harry Potters I have ever observed, none were even remotely tied to Gilgamesh and his vaunted Treasury."

It was an astounding fact to consider; that without the intervention of Zelretch; he would not have ever existed. That his world would not have seen a Lily Evans to grow up to become Lily Potter and birth a child that would be him. In a manner of speaking, Harry owed his very life to the Wizard Marshall.

He didn't like that.

"If my mother was born here, if the line that ties me to Gilgamesh originates from this world, then how did the key to the King's Treasury wind up in the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked, recalling the cryptic puzzle key that he had found and later unlocked to receive the inheritance of the King of Heroes.

"Well that's because I put it there." Zelretch replied with a shrug. "What's the point of being the descendant of Gilgamesh if you don't get to play with his toys?"

Harry frowned. So that was how he had gotten it all? Not because he had earned it, but because some bored old man had wanted to play an elaborate game of 'what if.'

"So I didn't actually earn anything? I didn't really earn an inheritance from my own merit. It was just given to me because you were bored."

Zelretch shook his head, denying the assumption. "I put the Key in your path. I never made you take it nor did I help you unlock it. There were a number of alternates that either never found the key or could not solve it."

The Silver haired teenager rubbed a hand at his forehead, feeling a measure of relief and comfort in that what he considered a genuinely notable achievement that was not colored by the 'Magical World' was still untainted and _his._

"What happened to your hair?"

Halting the massage of his forehead and peering through his fingers to the curious looking Wizard Marshall, Harry cocked an eyebrow. "Bit of a random question to ask. shouldn't you know the answer if you can look through dimensions?"

Zelretch returned with a flat stare. "Just because I can does not mean I always do. I'm not that voyeuristic."

Harry clicked his tongue in agreement. It was a fair enough thing. There was more to life than simply watching other people live theirs after all. "Truth is I don't know. I assumed it had something to do with the Gate of Babylon as it started to change color shortly after I unlocked the key."

Zelretch nodded slowly, considering the possibility before leaning forward in his seat and narrowing his crimson red eyes carefully. A faintly uttered phrase, so quiet that it just sounded like a whispered breath to Harry's ears and the old man's eyes briefly pulsed with a faint light.

"...Divinity."

"Come again?"

Zelretch leaned back in his chair, folding his hands into his lap and looking down from the Heir of Babylon thoughtfully. "A human body, comprised of exactly sixty eight percent mortality and thirty one percent Divinity with a further one percent undergoing metamorphosis from mortality into Divinity."

"Care to share Kischur?" Harry asked, wondering what the old man was going on about.

Brought out of his musings the old man looked back up to the befuddled teenager. "According to legend it was said that Gilgamesh was a demigod comprised of two thirds Divine one third mortal. Over the millennia that divinity had all but been bred out of his bloodline. But with you, with you that Divinity is returning. At a slow but steady rate your mortality is being overwritten by the Divine."

"I'm turning into a god?"

Zelretch chuckled and shrugged. "No more than Gilgamesh himself I imagine."

Harry hummed in thought. He had never really considered that. That as a descendant of one of history's oldest Heroes and Demigods that he himself would stand to possess some measure of Divinity in his own existence. He had never really put any thought or stock into the fact that according to Gilgamesh's own legend and Epic he had been born as a result of godly intervention. It really pointed out a flaw in his thinking and belief in that; despite everything he had seen and experienced over the course of his seventeen years of living, Harry still tended to hold to seeing is believing.

"So what are you going to do now?"

That the question came from the Wizard Marshall surprised Harry as he brought his attention back to the little impromptu tea party the old man had set up. "What do you mean by that? I would have thought I would be asking you that question. I assumed you would want something from me for you to have been waiting here for my arrival."

Zelretch shrugged. "I always knew that if you were to use my sword you would appear in this place and time. I just wanted to find out if you actually would so here I am. No, I don't really want anything from you in truth. You've already given me what I wanted; to see what would become of Gilgamesh's bloodline. So my question stands. 'What now?'"

Harry was stumped. What now indeed? This was the first time that had ever been something that could be legitimately asked of him. Even when he had been living in France he had still technically not been truly free to live as he wished. But here, where the only one who knew of him to any detail was a man who wanted nothing from him. The world literally was open for him. For the first time ever.

"You should know that the current date of this world is different from where you just came." Zelretch pointed out. "I used the date of your birth as an anchoring point for the Kaleidosword. When it is used it places you on the other side on exactly the thirty-first of July 1981."

This was a surprise. He was in the past, technically. Seventeen years in the past.

But the question remained; what did he want to do?

'_A king never forgets where he comes from my Heir.'_

Harry nodded to himself; remembering one of the discussions he had with 'Construct-Gilgamesh' regarding a half considered dream of Harry's. One that know was realised to have been impossible before considering the discovery that the desired destination was literally worlds apart.

"I know what I want to do."

XxxX

It was a blistering heat that Harry had found himself after leaving his first class seat from the flight that had brought him to Baghdad Iraq. The middle of summer the heat was so great that Harry; used to the colder climate of Europe had found himself sweating even before leaving the comfort of Baghdad Airport's air-conditioning.

Actually leaving the climate controlled building and stepping out into the midday sun of the nation that had been built upon the bones of Ancient Babylon had felt like he had fallen into the fires of hell itself.

By the time Harry had flagged down a Taxi he had pulled out a treasure from the Gate; a simple golden bracelet, that eased the heat that pressed down on him to a more manageable level.

He was here to live out a desire that had sat in its own corner of his mind and heart since the first moment he had learned of the true significance of the Gate of Babylon and its' previous possessor; to visit Babylon and walk through the ruins once ruled by great Gilgamesh himself. Babylon may have existed in the other world, but given that the revelations supplied by Zelretch had told that Babylon of that world was not the same one ruled by the Gilgamesh he knew, it would not have been the same.

He understood. That time and the ever steady march of human progress would have all but washed over Babylon and only a few crumbling ruins would be all that remained of the once mighty kingdom. But it would be enough for him.

Instructing the driver to take him out of Baghdad and go south to Warka; where Ancient Uruk was located, Harry allowed himself to drift off, gazing out of the window to the landscape of this middle eastern country as it passed him by. The driver did ask if he wished instead to visit the more public and well known site of Babylon where President Saddam Hussein had ordered excavation and restoration of Nebuchadnezzar II's Palace along with several other sites. But Harry had no interest in the ruins of a king that had ruled over Neo-Babylon. He had looked into the history of Babylon beyond Gilgamesh's time and so knew of the ancient king and his part in the creation of one of the seven wonders of the world; the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. But that was unimportant to him right now. He was not here to gawk and play the tourist.

It took a few hours to make the journey. Once traffic had eased up after exiting Baghdad proper the scenery blurred by at a faster, more steady pace.

Upon arrival, Harry paid the man and bid him a good day. The driver was surprisingly concerned for him in the end, much to Harry's pleasure. There was little in the way of transportation out of this area and so the Driver was concerned that his fare would be stuck here.

Harry had thanked the man for his concern and simply tipped him further to signify his appreciation for the anxiety regarding his health and safety before urging him on his way.

That was an hour ago.

Now, having walked the distance from the road and to where Uruk had once stood proud as the seat of humanities first ever Hero; Harry could feel it. That power and sense of authority that Gilgamesh must have felt. He could picture it now; seated on a rich throne of gold at the summit of a vast and flawless palace with an unfettered view of his kingdom. Servants to cater to his every need and the full knowledge that everything he could lay his eyes upon was his to control and protect as he saw fit.

The freedom. To have been able to live as he saw fit. Wine and dine as much as he could stomach. Bed as many women as his lust could allow and descend from his throne to venture wherever he wanted, however he wanted.

And then, he felt something else.

Something more real and less fantasised within his own mind and heart. A sharp pull, a tug at the pit of his stomach that in its own way reminded Harry of the feeling one gets when using a Portkey.

Allowing his body to fall into the direction of that pull, his legs moving almost as if on auto-pilot. With each step he could feel the hair on the back his neck and his arms prickle as a steady thrum of, something beating at his ears; like a crescendo of instruments that could not be identified was flowing through his entire being.

That pull, that steady thrum of power and music urged him to a central part of the ruin of Uruk; where Harry felt and could see with his minds eye the palace where Gilgamesh himself and lived and ruled from had once proudly stood.

The ground shook beneath his feet and at the back of Harry's' mind, he '_heard_' a snap; like a rubber band that had been pulled tight suddenly breaking and the ground before him suddenly collapsed down into a declining ramp to what seemed to be a cavern beneath the ground.

He could still hear it. In fact if anything it sounded much clearer now. That beautiful symphony of instruments that filled his being to the exclusion of all other noise.

There was no fear, no uncertainty or hesitation as Harry descended the ramp and ventured into the dark cavern. With the inky darkness before him, the silver haired descendant of the once King of Uruk pulled open a small Gate before reaching in and pulling out a small rod.

Made of bronze the Rod of Asclepius had a serpent made of pure gold wrapped around it with the snake's head resting on the top of the rod itself. Holding it aloft, Harry fed a drop of power and focus into the Noble Phantasm; causing the snake to glow brightly, casting out light to chase away the surrounding darkness and envelop the entire subterranean cavern in the light of the sun.

With sight restored, Harry was able to see his surroundings and was awed when he found himself standing, not in a cavern, but a completely intact corridor. Massive limestone bricks made up the walls beautifully painted and decorated with elegant gold carvings and reliefs depicting Babylonian art and scenery. The coloring of the walls, floor and ceiling had faded over time, but the blues and golds were still clear enough.

It was amazing to think that this place had gone on for so long untouched by time, the elements and human interference. 'Construct-Gilgamesh' had, as a part of his early instruction, given him a basic overview of the Magic of his time. Not enough to know how to use it or how it really worked, but more in line with an understanding of some of the mechanics and terminology. That feeling that had passed through him before, that snap he had both heard and felt just before the opening had revealed itself. It could have been a form of Bounded Field. Based on the fact that it had collapsed without any apparent reason or external stimulation could suggest two possibilities; that it had fallen as a result of time, or that it had reacted to his presence and come down to allow him through.

It seemed a bit too convenient for Harry to have just happened to arrive at the exact time of its natural collapse for that to be the cause. Which left the more interesting theory that the Field had come down because of his presence.

It would explain why the local government of Iraq had not been able to find this jewel of history. As far as the world at large was concerned; this place did not exist.

'█_**on**_ █_**ou**_█ ▄█_**mo**_█_**, I**_ ██▄██ _**al**_█▄_**w**_ ▄█_**.'**_

It was barely audible, more like a barely uttered whisper carried on a non-existent wind coming from further down the corridor but Harry could feel the power within it. More to the point; he could feel the Gate itself practically quivering in the recesses of his awareness. As if it was barely able to contain itself.

Holding the Rod of Asclepius above his head, the teenager proceeded down the Babylonian hallway. That symphony of music he had been hearing since his approach and passage through the Bounded Field that had protected and concealed this place had changed. Before it had been as if a countless number of woodwind and string instruments had been quietly playing across a distance. Now however, it was more like a steady drumming; almost like the beating of a giants heart.

It filled his entire being with each beat as it flooded into him through his ears.

'_**Dr**_▄█ █▄_**ur**_ ██▄_**rds, ▄ █h**_▄_**ll**_ █_**er**_█▄█ ▄_**t.'**_

The relief's and artwork that lined the majestic hallway seemed to almost glow from the sunlight pouring from the Noble Phantasm in his hand. A relief of a great Bull of gold and silver with what appeared to be two massive, flawless sapphire's carved into horns, seemed to move as the light shifted over its form and Harry could have sworn he saw links of chain shifting along the borders of its relief.

'█_**a**_▄█_**e yo**_▄█ _**s**_█▄▄_**l**_█_**s, I s**_█▄█_**l co**_██▄_**nt i**_█_**.'**_

Coming to the end of the grand hallway, Harry found his path barred by two massive limestone and gold doors. Easily twice his height and looking to weigh in the very least several tons, it held the carvings of two heavily armed and armored Uruk guardsmen; representations of a form of protection to safeguard whatever lay beyond. If there was anything to give hint of what lay beyond that massive stone doors, Harry could not tell; so filled was he by the powerful drums beating into his heart and the words that seemed to be carving themselves into his very soul the closer he approached.

Reaching out, Harry pressed the palm of his hand against the left door, he grit his teeth and pushed. It was heavy, _really _heavy. Even simply testing the weight of his body against it he could feel it resisting as if he were pushing against a solid wall. He could feel his feet starting to slide back as his pushing was moving his own body rather than the obstacle before him instead.

'_**G**_▄█_**e **_▄█_**on my Tre**_▄_**su**_█▄█_**...**_'

Harry dropped the Rod of Asclepius, momentarily disrupting its light as he pressed his now free hand against the door, narrowing his eyes and putting the full force of his might into his efforts. He could feel his muscles aching, tightening and straining to apply the force needed to move what was doing its fair job at seeming to be an immovable object.

"I will not be stopped by a chunk of stone and gold!"

Harry let out a yell, pushing with his arms and pulling with all of his heart and soul to rally forth the strength and power he needed to continue. And it answered him. It was a power he had not really felt since he had first unlocked Bab-ilu and come into the possession of the Gate of Babylon. Since he had lost his ability to feel and utilise his own magic. It flooded his nerves and muscles like a burst of heat, causing sweat to steam off of his form and his skin to redden only slightly before returning to his normal complexion.

And the door creaked open.

'_**...a█d knee█ in su█pli█at▄on.'**_

His chest heaved, his arms burned and the air around him wavered under the Rod of Asclepius' light from the heat pouring off of him. Forcing air back into his lungs, Harry half turned and retrieved his makeshift torch before turning his attention to the massive room that had been opened before him.

It was almost reminiscent of a Ziggurat in design of the large, meter tall multi-tiered steps that dominated the grand room. With a central flight of stone steps leading up to the summit of this internal design positioned before him, Harry could see flawlessly preserved mosaics and murals covering every inch of the walls of each step as well as the four walls of the room itself; each depiction detailing an aspect of the King of Uruk's life, no matter how mundane. There was a scene of a man in gold walking through a farmers field, one of the same man; Gilgamesh, standing across a battlefield facing another with long hair of emerald green. There was even a mosaic of Gilgamesh attending to his duties atop his throne with a gathering of peasants lined up before him. The floor was tiled with beautiful geometric designs and colors and the light of the Noble Phantasm held in his hand reflected off of the polished surface of a number of glittering gemstones and bricks of gold that had been tastefully scattered around the room as as a representation of the great wealth owed to the King of Heroes.

If the hallway was impressively preserved as a result of passing through time cut off from the outside world, this room; this Temple, was at a level where it could have been constructed mere days ago.

It was what he could see at the top level of this Ziggurat shaped floor design that held Harry's attention the most however.

Ascending the stone steps, Harry's eyes registered nothing more than the summit and the object that occupied it. The light of the Rod of Asclepius flickering off of gemstones and gold no longer noticed and the carefully recorded artwork detailing of Gilgamesh's legend ignored the further he climbed.

It was the fourth and final tier. Four meters above the actual floor level that it stood. Seemingly formed from a single massive block of marble that had been carefully carved and shaped into a beautiful pedestal. And resting on its surface, on a bed of red silk, sat the source if it all. The source of the drumming that had been beating his heart for the past several minutes. The source of that powerful voice that had been engraving its words into his very soul.

A book.

Well not a book really. It was more a large pair of golden tablets connected together on a set of hinges that gave suggestion that it could be opened very much like a book. The heraldry of Uruk was carved onto the surface of this tablet-book. Beneath it there was a single passage in a script that Harry _knew _he had never seen before. A dialect of ancient Uruk most likely that had not survived into the modern era. He should not, _could not,_ know it. And yet he did.

'_I WILL proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was the man to whom all things were known; this was the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went on a long journey, was weary, worn-out with labour, returning he rested, he engraved on a stone the whole story.'_

Harry knew what this was. He had heard about it from 'Construct-Gilgamesh' before. Mankind's oldest story and myth. The epic poem and legend that told the most complete account of the King of Heroes.

It was the Epic of Gilgamesh. And yet, it felt like it was somehow _more._

Picking it up in one hand and holding it in his palm, Harry slid his thumb in between the two golden tablets; his other hand still occupied by holding the only source of illumination within the room. A dexterous flick of his thumb and the golden 'book' opened with a burst of golden light and power that he had long since come to associate with the activation of the Gate of Babylon.

_His vision went blank; sight, sound and feeling wiped out as the world vanished in an instant._

_And then it cleared._

_Cleared to show a phantasmal vision of an expansive room. Grand columns lined the sides of this great room and shafts of sunlight poured through large arched stone windows._

_A gentle fluttering of fabric in the wind and the sound of metal shifting saw Harry's gaze drawn up to a dais that held a great throne; its occupant positioned as such that he could observe every corner, every shadow and well lit inch of his Throne room._

_There he sat. dressed in loose red pants, a red and blue open vest doing nothing to cover his otherwise bare chest and a white cloth turban perched atop a golden haired head. King Gilgamesh; Ruler of Uruk, King of Heroes and Original Owner of the Worlds Treasures._

_He was sat upon his throne, chin held up by a gold gauntlet covered hand with a flat expression on his face as he looked to the side._

_Harry could feel the power wafting off of the man in waves, like standing before the heat of a massive flame. He swallowed._

_And Gilgamesh's wine red eyes flicked over to lock onto his._

"_**For I sit upon the Throne of Babylon.**__"_

XxxXxxXxxX

**A/N**

**...Tadaaa**

**and thus ends the latest chapter for this 'Throne of Babylon.'**

**hopefully we have been able to answer some questions that have come up to you readers over the course of reading what has come before.**

**Harry's connection to Gilgamesh himself, how we have done the relative connection between the Type-Moon verse and the Harry Potter verse and such.**

**A bit curious to see if anyone is able to decode the phrases that 'Gilgamesh' was saying throughout Harry's walk to that underground temple. Not for anything really, just somewhat interested to see if anyone can see it we guess?**

**We hope people like our little 'tea party' that we had Harry go through with Zelretch as well as how we characterised the 'Great Troll of Fate'.**

**As always please drop us a Review to let us know how we are doing with this story. This one does seem to be quite popular amongst what we have going so we would like to maintain the level that has you all coming back to read more.**

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**Next week is 'Never Alone' we think?**


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